Memories
by mozzi-girl
Summary: When Mal, Natara, Blaise, Jeremy and Kai get stuck in the precinct due to a storm, they struggle to find anything to do. What better way to pass the time then talking about your pasts? According to Mal: anything. Memories from the whole cast included, requests taken. Rated T just in case.
1. Introduction

_Memories_

_Chapter One (Introduction)_

_**Hey guys I'm back with another story for you. I can happily announce that it's the 6 week holidays now so I'll have more time for writing/drawing and there will be no school drama. Hallelujah! I would have written this (and two other ideas I have) much sooner but my laptop decided to go all virus on me, which wasn't helpful. But I got it fixed now so it's all good.  
One more thing, this is just a sort of introduction and at the end I will be posting something important so please read. Thank you and enjoy!**_

* * *

The day had begun just like any other would have: mainly involving getting up from the sound of an incredibly irking alarm; having breakfast; getting dressed and brushing your teeth before heading on out to another long working day. As usual, Mal drove to Natara's apartment and picked her up, while Kai walked and Blaise and Jeremy drove in their car. They arrived one after another and almost immediately got to work, heading off in their separate ways, but only after a brief morning gathering at the water cooler with a cup of coffee.

The day passed as expected, Blaise and Jeremy working together on homicide cases, Mal and Natara trying to put together the pieces of another psycho case while Kai processed any evidence that was thrown his way. Mal and Natara were now sat in their joined office, finishing off reports from another small case they had come across and solved together in one afternoon. Natara sighed heavily as her pace slowed from the boredom she was feeling, reports were like a death sentence sometimes. Mal noted this noise and smirked, stopping what he was doing to observe his partner.

"You seem _really _happy, Nat." He said sarcastically.

"Oh totally_._ _Nothing_ is more fun than reports!" Natara retorted playfully. "Seriously though, this is killing me."

"If it's that bad, go check the crime lab for me would ya?" Mal smiled "I don't feel like making conversation with the weirdo, but we need to see if he's finished with the evidence."

Natara thought this over for a long time, her mind arguing for and against the idea, but when her eyes fell on the stack of paperwork on her desk she sighed and got up.

"Fine, but what's in it for me?"

"I'll finish your paperwork."

"Really?" Natara's eyes widened "I couldn't let you do that, Mal."

"Nah, it's fine really. Anything to get me out of talking to the coffee-filled-Kai. He's actually more annoying than normal Kai."

Natara giggled and patted Mal on the shoulder as a thank you before strolling out of the office and making her way through the bullpen, which as usual was filled with noisy, busy officers. She weaved through the chaos and headed down the stairs to the crime lab, pushing open the door and strolling inside. Kai was hunkered over a small piece of evidence with a magnifying glass, squinting. He didn't take notice that Natara had entered until she politely cleared her throat. He jumped and spun around to face her, his shocked expression being replaced by a goofy smile.

"Oh... Agent Boom Bottie, it's just you. Phew." Kai cleared his throat awkwardly "Not that I was worried or anything, of course if you happened to be a ninja of some sort I could probably take you out easily."

"_Right_," Natara sighed and rolled her eyes "Anyway Kai have you finished processing the evidence Mal gave you earlier?"

"Oh... that." Kai shifted uncomfortably "And if I haven't?"

"Well that can't be helped, we can wait."

"What if I didn't do it because I was busy... playing The Sims?"

"Then I'd beat you to a pulp in three seconds flat."

Natara sent Kai a glare that could melt ice, and he shifted uncomfortably on the spot.

"W-Well good thing I wasn't then right?" He laughed nervously, and Natara's gaze softened.

"Exactly." She smirked "Just get it to us when you can."

"Okie Dokie!"

Kai saluted Natara before getting back to his work, leaving Natara to roll her eyes again and turn on her heels, heading back towards the door. As she was about to walk out though, Blaise and Jeremy came barging in, almost knocking her over. Luckily Jeremy reached out and caught her arm in time.

"Sorry Natara..." He said softly.

"No problem Jeremy."

Blaise just huffed and walked over to Kai, spinning him around and grabbing him by the collar. Natara's eyes widened and she was about to interject when Jeremy stopped her, shaking his head, before making his way slowly over to her.

"Kalaba!" Blaise growled "What's your deal!"

"Blaise... calm down." Jeremy said soothingly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Natara just watched with confusion, not knowing why Blaise had suddenly barged in here and grabbed hold of Kai. But then again, knowing Kai, she had good reason to. Jeremy was trying to calm her down while Kai whimpered in fear. In that moment, Mal came jogging down the stairs and his eyes immediately fell on the scene before him. He raised an eyebrow and sighed heavily, shaking his head. Jeremy was failing to calm Blaise down and she was practically screaming in Kai's face. Mal paced over and moved Jeremy aside silently, before taking a deep breath and pulling Blaise off Kai, lifting her up and holding her over his shoulder.

"Mal! Put me down right now or I swear to God I'll kill you too!"

"Yeah, yeah." Mal sighed.

Blaise continued to squirm as Mal walked her away from Kai, so they had a good distance, before setting her down and holding her back. Natara tried to fight back a laugh and covered her mouth, seeing Mal's completely calm face about the whole situation. Mal held Blaise by her shoulders and made her look at him instead of Kai.

"Blaise," He started calmly "Instead of trying to tear apart your co-worker, why don't you tell me exactly what happened."

Blaise scowled at Mal for a long moment, but seeing his serious face, she gave in and sighed heavily, folding her arms across her chest and looking away.

"He took my gun." She mumbled.

"Seriously. That's why you're ready to kill him."

"Hey!" Blaise defended "You know how important my gun is to me, and don't act like your gun isn't important to you too!"

"Hm... can't argue with that." Mal turned to face Kai, still holding Blaise back. "Kai, why the hell would you take an officer's gun?"

"Well," Kai whimpered "I was gonna take yours... but then decided that'd be a pretty bad idea, so I took Blaise's instead."

"I didn't ask that, and you made the right decision take my gun or even _think _about taking it again and I will _end_ you. Now answer my question Kalaba."

"I took it because... I wanted to..."

"Spit it out!"

"I wanted to act like a detective for a couple minutes! That's all I swear!" Kai blurted.

"... Seriously?" Mal sighed.

Natara decided to interrupt and walked over to Kai, placing a hand on his shoulder; she was used to being the calm one in situations like this. He whimpered again but she sent him a soft gaze, telling him to give her the gun back. Jeremy jogged over to Blaise and took her off Mal, pulling her into a corner to talk in hushed tones. After giving Blaise back her gun, Natara led Mal back upstairs and out of the crime lab. They went back into their office while Blaise and Jeremy went to see Acting Captain Lt. Anders in 'his' office.

Mal had finished the paperwork after around an hour of non-stop writing, with Natara making frequent coffee runs and helping him, despite his protests. The sun had almost completely set in the sky when they had finished everything they had to do that day and were ready to head off home. Mal slowly stood up, feeling his aching muscles stretch. He groaned and looked to Natara who seemed to have the same problem. They caught each other's gaze and smiled.

"Ready _Special_ _Agent_?" Mal said while smirking.

"Whenever you are _Detective_."

Pulling on their jackets, they headed out into the bullpen to find a huge commotion taking place. Every officer was making more noise than usual and seemed to be gathering near the front doors. Mal and Natara exchanged worried glances before heading over, but before they could find anything out, Lt. Anders came out of his office and finished his phone call before standing in front of everyone and addressing them loudly.

"Alright, it's been advised that none of us leave the safety of the precinct until all this has blown over, so that means-"

"What's going on Chuckles?" Mal interrupted, pushing his way to the front of the crowd and standing in front of Anders.

"Well aren't we slow today," Anders scowled, gaining a glare from Mal "What's going on Detective is that there's a huge storm outside and we aren't leaving the precinct until it's blown over."

"Oh you have got to be freaking kidding me!" Mal huffed "Great, so we're all stuck here."

"Looks like it. Have plans did you?" Anders smirked and turned back to the crowd "I'll be in my office if anyone needs me, and let me remind everyone that _no one_ is allowed to leave the precinct under any circumstances without my permission. Understood?"

The crowd all murmured responses, while Anders walked back into his office, slamming the doors. The commotion soon calmed down and everyone went their separate ways, mainly gathering around a desk and having conversations. Mal called Natara, Blaise, Jeremy and Kai into his office and they all took seats around the desks.

"Well this is just great," Mal said sarcastically "I can't think of anything more fun than this."

"Oh come on, Mal," Natara smiled "It's not all bad right? I mean, we can just... oh who am I kidding, this sucks."

Everyone nodded in agreement and groaned. Kai was swinging his legs over the side of Mal's desk and drumming a random beat on the surface. The room was otherwise silent, no one making any noise and staring into the distance.

"So..." Kai mumbled eventually "How about we play a game?"

"No." Mal grumbled "We are not playing your 'Would you rather' game Kai. End of story."

"... Amy would play with me"

"Yeah, well Amy's not here right now is she. And FYI, no she wouldn't."

"Fine," Kai sighed "How about... we play truth or dare?"

"Not after last time..." Natara whispered, a light blush creeping on her olive toned cheeks.

"Heh... totally." Mal chuckled. "Talk about awkward."

"Did I miss something?" Blaise chirped in, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh! It was great!" Kai beamed "We all got trapped in the crime lab from the Veritox Incident and we played truth or dare, I dared Mal to-"

"Kai!" Natara scolded "We had an agreement _never _to speak about that incident again. Ever."

"You brought it up." Kai pouted childishly. "If we're not going to do anything then I'll die of boredom! Wait a minute... I could play the Sims! Oh my gosh, guys I wanna show you all something anyway! Come on!"

Kai jumped up and beamed before skipping out the office.

"Are we really gonna go with him?" Jeremy asked.

"I think if we don't he won't leave us alone." Natara replied.

"True... come on then, maybe we can lock him in there for the rest of the night?" Mal grinned mischievously.

Natara laughed and slapped his arm playfully before they all headed down to the crime lab, where Kai was setting up his game. He spun around in his office chair and smiled.

"I've been expecting you Mr Bond."

Jeremy fought back a laugh while Natara and Blaise shared unamused glances. Mal resisted the growing urge to punch him and made his way to the other side of the room, leaning against the filing cabinet and folding his arms across his chest.

"Whatcha wanna show us Kai?" Jeremy asked, walking over and leaning over Kai to see his computer.

"Well, I made Sims of all of us using my mad skills, and I wanted to update you all on how their, or should I say _our_, lives are going."

"Oh my God, that's what you wanted to show us? I should've known." Blaise whined.

"Well it's better than sitting around and doing nothing." Kai retorted.

Natara sighed and hopped onto the desk, placing her hands beside her and looking back at Mal, gesturing for him to come over and join her. Mal smiled and pushed himself off the cabinet before sauntering over and taking a seat beside her. Blaise observed this and also walked over, taking a place next to Mal, not making eye contact. While Kai droned on about his character, Mal looked to Blaise and saw her staring at the floor, a hint of sadness in her expression. He frowned and leaned over, placing his hand atop hers to gain her attention. She quickly looked up and into his eyes, wearing a confused look. He just flashed her a friendly smile and sent her a look that clearly said 'are you alright?'

Blaise returned the smile and nodded leaning over and quickly resting her head on Mal's shoulder, before pulling away. Eventually, after explaining Jeremy's and Blaise's characters, Kai started to talk about Natara and Mal's Sim characters.

"Oh! I almost forgot to mention, you two are kind of a thing now. I call it Maltara, or your Fanfiction fans do at least..."

"Wait, what?" Natara gasped, finally tuning in.

Mal wore an equally confused look and raised an eyebrow, unable to find the words to say, so Natara continued for the both of them before she too lost her ability to speak.

"Maltara? Kai I'm with Oscar remember?"

"Well yeah, in the _real_ world." Kai scoffed "_Everyone_ wants Maltara to happen, maybe because of what I've written but that's not the point, no one likes Osctara, believe me I've tried that and almost got hated on..."

"... Osctara, Maltara. _Seriously?_" Natara sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Yeah, seriously?" Mal parroted, finally regaining speech.

"People love you guys!" Kai defended "They always want more stories from me about you guys. You have your own fan base and everything!"

"Why do you write Fanfics about us Kai?" Mal growled "What's wrong with you."

"Nothing, I checked!" Kai beamed "But I write them because... it's fun. I don't just write about you and Natara though, I've done some about Blaise, Jeremy, Maria, Amy and so many others too."

"You know guys," Jeremy finally piped up "It's kind of awesome if you think about it."

"Oh dear lord." Blaise sighed and slapped her forehead.

"I just mean that we have our own fan base, how cool is that! I've never had a fan base before."

"Exactly! Redbird here knows what he's talking about!" Kai chuckled.

After more debates and banter being thrown around for another half an hour, everyone had almost run out of things to talk about. Kai had continued with playing games on his computer while Mal and Natara had resulted to laying on the floor side-by-side, staring at the ceiling, unable to think of anything else to say. Blaise and Jeremy were talking in the corner about various things, mainly Blaise scolding him for encouraging Kai's behaviour.

"So..." Jeremy spoke up when he ended his conversation with Blaise "What we gonna do now, the storms still going strong and doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon."

"I have no idea Redbird," Blaise grumbled "Why don't you do some Native American voodoo on the weather or something."

"Blaise," Jeremy scowled at her "We don't do 'voodoo' at all, that's just offensive."

"Whatever."

They both huffed and turned away from each other. Mal sensed another argument about to break out so quickly sat up into a cross-legged position.

"Alright, alright. Why don't we all just gather in my office and I'll think of something for us to do."

"Strip poker?" Kai suggested with a hopeful tone.

Everyone just glared at him and he shrunk back into himself, making his way over and up the stairs without another word. Jeremy and Blaise followed in suit and Mal stood up, extending his hand to Natara, who smiled and let him pull her up. As they got to the top of the stairs there was a strange noise coming from somewhere in the precinct before the lights went out completely, leaving everyone in semi-darkness.

"Aw, come on!" Mal moaned, kicking the nearest object.

The precinct was in a mini panic as Lt. Anders emerged from his office, clearly pissed off.

"Everyone calm down!" He growled, making the room fall silent. "Do we have any other light sources Detective Fallon?"

"Yeah, we have candles in the crime lab I think, or I have my flashlight."

"Great, go get them and _carefully_ light them around the precinct. Everyone help." He huffed and waited outside his office until he was given a light source.

As the officers used a combination of their flashlights and candles for light, Mal carefully led Natara back to their office, where Blaise, Jeremy and Kai were gathered. Candles were in a circle in the centre of Mal and Natara's joined desks. Blaise had her flashlight on, using it whenever she could, but the source of light was blinding if it caught someone's eyes, so she was forced to turn if off after a while.

"Fallon, what was your idea then."

"Well I was gonna suggest we play _normal _poker, but we can't do that in this light anymore."

"Damn it, I love poker." Blaise sighed.

"Well... we could always... talk?" Natara suggested.

"About what exactly, Nat, there isn't anything left to talk about."

"Hmm..." Natara bit her lip, deep in thought for a long moment before her face lit up with an idea. "We could always discuss our pasts?"

"Nuh uh, my past sucks." Mal protested.

"It can't be _that_ bad."

"Yep, it is."

"It kind of is actually." Blaise interrupted. "He was a rebel."

"Still am." Mal grinned, gaining a laugh from both Natara and Blaise.

"Well I personally am a little curious about Kai's past, or Jeremy's." Natara smirked. "I mean, Kai used to be in a biker gang after all... what else are you hiding Kalaba?"

"N-Nothing. I'm perfectly normal and good now!"

"Normal being a relative term..." Mal mumbled.

"No, no." Blaise joined in "Go on Kai... Or Redbird, either way."

Kai and Jeremy shared worried glances and gulped before sighing. This was going to be a long night...

* * *

_**Okay everyone, that's just to set up all the memory opportunities. So anyway, what I wanted to ask was this: Who would you like to see tell a memory first, any specific memory you'd like me to write about for each character, and how many memories would you like to see told for each character? I don't mind how long this story is since it could go on for a while if you wanted, so any requests will probably be slotted in somewhere. **_

_**Anyway, thanks for reading and please review! :)**_


	2. Kai

_Memories_

_Chapter Two (Kai)_

_**Sorry for not updating when I said I would on Monday, but I found out this was harder to write than I initially thought... Sorry, Kai's hard to write for. **_

_**I've died and gone to Fanfiction Heaven people! I seriously could not believe the amount of reviews I have received for the first chapter of this story, 12 reviews! (Although for some reason Fanfiction doesn't want to show more than 8 but I have them in my inbox... Hmm...) I wanted to say an ENORMOUS thank you to every single one of you out there that read/REVIEWED/ favourited/followed and sent in your requests for memories you'd like to see. Don't feel shy to send in more since I take ALL of them into account, no matter how random! :D  
**_

_**By the way, it seemed pretty clear what you guys want for most characters memories, apart from Mal's. If there are no requests for him I'll just make something up, but now is your chance to get your ideas on for all characters! **_

_**To be honest, I'm not even all that proud of this chapter at all... hope you like it though, because I seriously don't. I failed horribly at this chapter. -_- I know Kai is completely OOC and everything, it just... FAILED. Sorry... I'm disappointed in myself for even posting this. **_

_**I'm gonna stop rambling now, but just... THANKS! I'll reply to the reviews personally. **_

* * *

"I'm not going first!" Jeremy protested, folding his arms across his chest.

Everyone was silent for a long moment, and the candlelight wobbled with the steady breathing from the people that surrounded it. The loss of light cast strange shadows along the walls and ceiling, shifting them into an even more uncomfortable silence. It was as if without someone talking, the precinct seemed... eerie. No one would admit it, but they were all starting to get creeped out. Even the supposed officers outside of Mal and Natara's office were quiet right now, it was like they weren't even present, but you could still see them outside the glass in the now-closed door.

"Um," Kai mumbled "I guess I could go first... if no one else will."

Mal wore a triumphant smirk, while Natara, Blaise and Jeremy all sighed with relief. Kai shuffled into a more comfortable position as he stopped swinging his feet across the edge of Mal's desk. He thought for a long moment about what to talk about, when the familiar memory of Hawaii came to mind. He beamed and turned to address everyone, clearing his throat in an overly dramatic way. Mal just sighed and shook his head, already regretting his decision to get Kai to talk.

"Well my dear co-workers," Kai started "How about I tell you about the time I gained my nickname of 'Killer Kalaba'?"

"Wait... what?" Blaise inquired "_You _were called Killer Kalaba, for real?"

"Unfortunately yes," Natara answered "We only found this out when we went to Hawaii... didn't we Mal."

"Yep, but let's not bring _any _of that up _ever _again."

Natara giggled and blushed lightly at the memory, thankful for the low lighting to hide it. Kai cleared his throat to gain back attention and started making dramatic gestures as he told his tale.

"Alrighty then! Let's see... ah. It was a dark and stormy night, the huge trees that towered over our mighty hero blew violently in the strong wind and-"

"Are you for real Kalaba?" Mal interrupted while wearing an unamused look on his face.

"Sorry... just trying to make it more entertaining." Kai defended.

"Well don't. Stick to what actually happened for once."

"Fine," Kai grumbled "but my improved version's better."

* * *

_It was nearing three months since Kai had got involved with the 'venomous' biker gang, The Sandsnakes. The only reason he could even remember joining them in the first place was because his childhood friend, Maleko Ionu, and even his own mother had encouraged – or more like forced – him to join. He had been dragged along by Maleko and the Sandsnakes had, surprisingly, recruited them both, but only as little lap dogs that had to do whatever was asked when called. To Maleko anything was better than nothing, but to Kai... anything was better than this. Sometimes he just wanted to go home and play on his Sims games, despite his mum always telling him to become one of the cool kids, or one of the more popular kids, instead of hanging around with nerds and Maleko. He still couldn't understand why his own mum would actually want him to be like that._

_Either way, he was stuck here, at the biker gang's base: with his long hair, glasses, leather jacket and slightly torn pants. They had wanted him to grow a beard, but he refused. The outfit was pretty awesome, but a little too much for him. _

* * *

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Blaise interrupted with a smirk on her face. "They actually made you wear a _leather_ jacket?"

"Y-Yeah..." Kai blushed "It was pretty awesome; don't get me wrong but... ouch."

"Can't be worse than what you're wearing now though." She chuckled. "Actually... hey Mal, can you remember-"

"No." Mal interrupted. "No I cannot, so let's not bring it up, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Blaise sniggered at the memory, but allowed Kai to continue his story. "A-Anyway, continue Kalaba, I got a feeling this is just gonna get better and better."

* * *

_Maleko Ionu approached Kai; having just heaved in another huge box of bike parts, and slumped down into a chair beside him, exhausted. _

"_Hey, Kalaba, I overheard that the Sandsnakes are heading on out to a local bar not to far from here, we get to ride our bikes down there if you're up for it."_

"_Oh..." Kai said, snapping back to reality. "They'd let us come along?"_

"_Hell yeah! We're part of them now, we have to go!"_

"_But I've heard that you can get into... trouble around there."_

"_Are you being serious with me right now?" Maleko growled "Kai, you're not wussing out on me are you?"_

"_N-No of course not! It'll be... fun." _

"_Great! Get your keys, we're leaving now." _

_Maleko hopped up and went over to join the other members outside, starting up his motor bike. Kai waited behind for a brief moment, before sighing and pulling himself to his feet. If it wasn't for working with the police, he'd be out of here by now. He felt bad being here. Like everything he was involved in was wrong... but in a way it felt right, he kept doing it anyway despite what his rational mind was telling him. _

_He sauntered out of the Sandsnakes base and started up his motor, hopping on and getting ready to follow the others, Maleko was by his side in an instant, with a sly grin on his face. Kai just nodded to him and they all set off, heading for the bar down the road. _

_Eventually they all parked side-by-side outside a dull-looking, run down bar, full of sweaty smelly tattooed up bikers with large muscles and an attitude to match. Most of them had long grown out beards of all different shapes and colours. The sight was, in a way, entertaining to watch, but Kai still felt out of place here. As well as being the only one without a tattoo or beard here, he was also probably the youngest too. Even Maleko had a stubbly beard and mini tattoo on his forearm, and was a couple months older than him too. _

_After a couple very strong alcoholic beverages and maybe even a couple tries of substances that were slightly against the law-_

* * *

"And by that you mean _drugs_... don't you Kai." Natara said with disappointment clear in her voice.

"Like I said before Boom Bottie, I know drugs... like I _really_ know drugs." Kai mumbled "They were... interesting."

"And Illegal."

"Yeah... would it help if I said I was sorry?"

"... No."

Kai cleared his throat awkwardly and shifted uncomfortably under Natara's gaze. Blaise just laughed and nudged Natara's shoulder, breaking her train of thought.

"Relax princess; we all did _something _at one time or another."

"Speak for yourself." Natara huffed.

"Whatever, go on Kalaba, I'm into this right now."

"Now Blaise, we've discussed this. I know you're into me, but when at work please try to refrain from your obvious desire with me." Kai said.

Blaise just wore a very unamused look on her face, while Mal, Natara and Jeremy were forcing back their laughter, and failing horribly. While Kai smiled, completely unaware of the situation around him, everyone was trying to stifle their laughter. Blaise looked around at the scene and couldn't help but smile as well. Kai could be so clueless sometimes.

* * *

_Kai and Maleko had gotten to talking about the most random of stuff, until Kai stumbled over to the bar in search of another drink. He accidently slammed his glass down on the bar surface and it shattered into a million pieces. He jumped back and cursed under his breath, turning around and seeing the dirty looks he was receiving from other bikers. There was a log moment of silence before practically everyone burst into laughter. Kai felt as if every eye was on him at that moment and he felt his cheeks burn. _

_Without further hesitation, Kai goofily rushed over to the table his gang was sat at and took a seat in silence. He got a number of rough slaps on the back along with sarcastic comments, which if he was honest with himself, irked him slightly. He was used to getting teased, but this was just ridiculous. _

_Finally getting to the point of snapping, Kai forced a smile and stood up. The other men protested telling him to sit back down, but he didn't listen and turned around, almost running towards the door. In the moments that he glanced back at the rest of the Sandsnakes, Kai ran into someone and sent himself flying backwards, hitting the ground with a thump. He didn't process the erupt of laughter in the background, because when he looked up there was an enormous butch man with a long ratted red beard and black sunglasses scowling down at him. Kai didn't even have chance to apologize or even whimper before the man shot down and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and yanked him to his feet. Kai struggled to breath and started squirming under the man's grip. Everyone went deathly silent and watched as the scene unfolded. _

_Kai glanced around looking for any help... but found none; he was on his own in this. _

_The burly man growled low in his throat and pulled Kai off the ground so he was dangling in mid air, Kai fought back a whimper and remembered he was still 'undercover' for the local police and didn't want to let them down. _

"_Gang." The man growled._

"_Um... what?" Kai replied._

"_What gang you in?" _

"_The... Sandsnakes." __Scoffing, the brawny man tightened his grip on Kai. "I hate them." _

_He tried his hardest to put on his biker facade and reached up, pushing the man backwards so he'd release his death grip on him. The man barely even stumbled, but nonetheless released Kai. __A few people gasped at his action and when Kai looked up, he saw the ice-cold glare being shot his way and tried not to shudder or show any signs that he was utterly terrified._

"_Don't. Touch. Me." Kai barked back, scowling up at the man and trying to stare him down. _

"_Or what Sandsnake?" _

_Sudden rage overtook Kai in a way he had never known before, maybe it was the fear and adrenaline, but whatever it was, Kai reached down to a table and picked up a bottle lifting it up and bringing it smashing down on the man's head. _

"_Kai!" Maleko whispered harshly "What are you doing man?" _

"_Oh," The man snarled "That's so it." _

_Kai let out a small squeal and narrowly avoided the hefty punch thrown by the huge man, Kai jumped backward, almost stumbling over a nearby table and looked around frantically for anything that he could use as a weapon. Nothing. _

"_Kai!" Maleko called._

_Kai spun around and saw Maleko throw something to him. Going to catch it, Kai suffered a blow to the gut, causing him to crouch over and yell out in pain. The object fell by his side and Kai tried to regain his composure before the man had a chance to punch him again. When he opened his eyes, by his feet was a small revolver. Torn, Kai debated for what felt like an eternity whether or not to wield this weapon, when a sudden thought crossed his mind._

_He didn't actually have to use it. _

_Smiling slightly, Kai scooped up the gun and levelled it at the man's head. Gasps and growls were heard and Kai felt his hand shaking with nerves. He couldn't back down now though, so he did the only thing that came to mind and-_

* * *

"Oh my god you shot him didn't you..." Jeremy gasped.

"W-What? No!" Kai stuttered "I'm not a murderer!"

"Heh... rookie." Blaise mumbled, smirking. "Of course Kai didn't shoot him, right Kai."

"Yep"

"He wouldn't harm a fly!"

"Um... actually, I kind of killed a fly the other day..."

"Figure of speech Kalaba." Blaise scoffed.

* * *

_Kai did the only thing he could think of at the time and... lost it. His fear took over and he started waving the gun around frantically._

"_Get down, all of you!" _

"_Kai... what are you-" A member of the Sandsnakes said._

"_I said down!" _

_People were hesitant but they slowly bent down to the floor, some even putting their hands on their heads. _

"_That's better... Now for you,"_

_Kai turned back around and accidently pistol whipped the butch man around the face, causing him to fall to the floor. He bit back an apology and went to turn back around; once again hitting the man by accident, only this time the man fell to the floor: unconscious. He instantly tossed the gun aside but as it hit the floor, the trigger pulled and sent a shot flying out. It ricocheted across the room and everyone yelled out in worry. _

"_Oops." Kai mumbled sheepishly. _

"_He's a killer, run for it!" A woman screamed before bolting out of the door._

_People scrambled nervously out the door after her, screaming and panicking. Kai just stood there awestruck at the mess he had caused for himself. When the scene calmed down, the only thing being left in the post chaos was the unconscious biker man, and the rest of the Sandsnakes looking at him with wide-eyes and some mouths were agape, Kai cleared his throat and wiped himself down. He sheepishly walked over to the rest of his gang and rocked back and forth on his feet, as if nothing had happened._

"_Well..." He whispered "That went well." _

"_Well? WELL?" the leader – nicknamed Viper – spoke up. "That was..."_

_Kai prepared himself for the worst._

"_BRILLIANT!" _

"_Wait, what?" _

"_This guy right here fellas," Viper said proudly, wrapping one arm around Kai's shoulders. "is a born Killer, you crazy man!" _

"_K-Killer?" Kai inquired, generally confused._

"_Killer Kalaba." Maleko sniggered. "I like it."_

"_I don't..." Kai mumbled. _

* * *

"The end!" Kai finished, having resumed swinging his legs back and forth at the edge of Mal's desk.

"Whoa... was that the actual story or are you just trying to seem awesome?" Jeremy asked.

"Why would I try to be awesome, when I'm already awesome?" Kai chuckled.

"I don't believe you." Mal mumbled "No way, not even after Hawaii, there is no way in hell that you could take down a man like that... even by accident."

"Can too!"

"Cannot."

"CAN TOO!"

"Cann-"

"Would you both please shut up!" Natara huffed. "That was a very... interesting story Kai, but we should really move on before any other arguments are brought up."

"Fine by me Agent Boom Bottie."

"Kai," Blaise smiled "You just became ten times cooler to me."

"Thanks B."

"No problem K."

"So... who's next?"

"Ummm..." Everyone sighed.

* * *

_**Who do you want to be next?  
**_

_**Once again I apologise for this chapter being so... awful. My bad, I really thought I could have written a good chapter for Kai but... apparently not :/ I'm going on holiday tomorrow for the day, so maybe in the car journey I'll write up the next chapter, I'm taking your notes of ideas for stories with me too, they're all on my iPod! :) Remember, any ideas you have please send them in, I take them into account and try to mold stuff around that.**_


	3. Blaise

_Memories_

_Chapter Three (Blaise)_

_**Hey Everyone, I wanted to thank every single one of you for sticking with this story and offering me some more ideas, but most importantly, reassuring me that my last chapter didn't completely suck :') I've also realized that I cannot reply to all your reviews as some weren't logged in and others didn't allow PM's. SO! I will do an enormous list of Review Replies at the end instead, for both chapters 1+2. Thanks again.**_

_**On another note, would you all like a story based around Kai's Fanfictions? Like having them read the Maltara/Jaise whatever stories and judge their reactions? Some of you asked for me to include this in here, but I doubt that would be possible. I could do a one-shot or something about that if you wanted. Let me know. :)**_

_**Also, maltarajaise asked for a sequel to Lost in Blue, yes, no? **_

* * *

The gang all sat in momentary silence around the dim lighting of the candles. They all glanced around at each other, neither of them wanting to go next. Kai had already told an... Interesting story about his past and it was time for someone else to. When no one spoke up, Jeremy opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, when Blaise cut in unexpectedly.

"I'll go next, there's actually something I wanna talk about." She smirked. "This is to get Fallon back for earlier."

"Uh oh..." Mal mumbled "That's never good."

"Oh relax Mal," Natara reassured "It can't be that bad, whatever it is, right Blaise?"

"Well," Blaise said mischievously "Depends on how you look at it I guess."

"Oh, this has got to be good." Jeremy whispered to Kai, who nodded enthusiastically.

"What's your memory about anyway?"

"How I met our very own Malachi Fallon of course!"

"I repeat, Uh oh." Mal sighed.

"Oh this I've gotta hear," Natara beamed "Go on Blaise."

With a nod, and straightening herself up, Blaise reclined in her chair and put her feet up on Natara's desk, gaining a momentary glare from Natara. All Mal could do was chuckle at her reaction, after all, Natara hated it when people put their feet up on any table. He knew that from going undercover with her. Nevertheless, Blaise began her tale.

* * *

_Blaise, aged 17, walked through the enormous gates of her new college more inward of the San Francisco area. She had to have been transferred from getting into too many fights with bitchy students that started on her. She had won them all by the way. Sauntering into the actual main building, she made her way down the long winding hallways trying not to make eye contact with anyone she passed, since they didn't interest her. She asked the receptionist for directions to the principal's office and made her way down the corridors again until she eventually turned up outside a door that clearly stated 'Principal Halloway' above it in big letters. _

'_Hmm... I would have never have guessed this was the principal's office.' Blaise thought sarcastically, before chuckling to herself._

_She knocked on the door and patiently waited for an answer. After a moment a voice called for her to enter, which she did and strolled over to a large oak desk, taking a seat in front of it. Behind the desk, typing on a computer was an elderly woman in her late fifties with blonde-grey hair and slim glasses that sat neatly on the edge of her nose. When Blaise sat down, the woman looked away from her computer and flashed Blaise a warm smile, which she happily returned. _

"_You must be Blaise Corso, correct?" She asked softly. _

"_That's me." _

"_Well I'm Mrs Halloway, your new principal."_

"_Heh, kind of gathered that from your sign outside the door, Miss."_

_Mrs Halloway laughed lightly and nodded in agreement._

"_Yes, it is quite large isn't it?" _

_Blaise chuckled as Mrs Halloway reached a hand under her desk and opened a draw, pulling out some books and placed them on her desk. Spinning them around to face Blaise, she pushed it forward and pointed to one set._

"_These will be your required text books and planner, to record your homework in. Please take good care of them, oh also your timetable is on the back."_

_Blaise scooped up the text books entitled various things and placed them in her shoulder bag, but kept hold of the planner in her hands. She flipped it over and read the back, seeing her first lesson was 'English Literature' with a 'Miss Haroldson' in room EN02. She thanked Mrs Halloway and stood up, flinging her bag across her shoulder. _

"_Oh, before you go Blaise," Mrs Halloway called after her "You have a clean slate now, make good use of it for me?"_

"_Will do, and thanks for taking me on Mrs Halloway, I appreciate it."_

"_Everyone deserves a second chance right?" She smiled._

"_Yeah, guess so. Thanks again, cya round!" _

"_Goodbye sweetheart." _

_Blaise smiled and opened the door, walking out of the principal's office. Once again, she got mixed up within the chaotic halls filled with students all rushing around in different directions; it was like a traffic jam. Despite not having a single clue where she was going, Blaise continued to wander around the school grounds in hope of finding a teacher or polite student willing to help her find her lesson._

* * *

"Awww come on, get to the good part!" Mal whined.

"And what part would that be exactly?" Blaise challenged.

"Obviously when I come in." He smirked.

Blaise laughed along with everyone else, Natara reached over and gave Mal a playful slap on the arm.

"I'll get there, just give me a couple minutes."

* * *

_The school bell rang loudly, echoing throughout the corridors and signalling that it was time to go to lesson, which she had no idea where it was. People began heading in various directions, pushing past her as if she wasn't even there. She despised being the new kid. Trying to control her growing temper, she attempted to move to the side of the corridor to avoid being shoved until the chaos passed, but ended up bumping into someone at enough force that it sent her flying back onto the floor; her planner skittering across the floor. _

"_Oi! Watch where you're going new kid!" He yelled at her. _

_Looking up, Blaise made eye contact with a large guy wearing a red jock jacket, with dull green eyes and jet black hair. He glared at her, not even attempting to help her retrieve her discarded planner or help her up._

"_Sorry." Blaise said calmly._

"_You will be new kid."_

"_Excuse me?" Blaise scoffed "Are you for real?" _

"_Don't push me." He growled. "Ha, what are you wearing anyway, you look like an emo." _

_Blaise took a deep breath, trying to calm herself as her temper was getting the better of her. Her eyes drifted down to her clothes, seeing her grey hoodie hanging loosely on her shoulders and a black shirt with an American eagle on it. On her lower half was long fitting dark blue jeans and black trainers. Her blonde hair was straight and hung down around her shoulders._

"_It's called Preppy actually." Blaise retorted. "Now get out of my face." _

"_Make me." _

"_Oh, I will if you don't-"_

_She was cut off by the jock being slammed into the nearby locker before an unfamiliar voice spoke up. He placed his forearm across the jock's neck, pinning him there easily. _

"_Lay off her Kyle," He said, his voice in an almost hushed tone. "I don't wanna see you picking on anyone again, understood?" _

_The jock, Kyle, only managed to nod weakly. He released his grip on Kyle and watched as he stormed off towards his lesson, sending a glare backwards to the two of them. Bystanders gasped and whispered at the scene, but moved on quickly not wanting to gain attention. _

"_Yeah, y'all better run!" Blaise called after him, feeling her temper slightly decrease. _

"_Y'all?" the guy chuckled, still facing away from her. "Alright cowgirl."_

'_Ah crap' Blaise thought 'Three minutes in this damn place and I've already got myself a nickname. Great.'_

* * *

"Wait a minute, is that why Mal calls you cowgirl then? Because it was your nickname in college?" Natara inquired.

"Heh... yeah, he never could let that one go."

"Nope, it suits you. Or should I say y'all?" Mal chuckled.

"Ugh, it was one time!"

"That's all it takes cowgirl, all it takes."

Blaise laughed and rolled her eyes playfully. She delivered a swift punch to Mal's arm, making him grunt in pain.

"Ow." He mumbled, rubbing the sensitive area.

Blaise just smiled triumphantly and folded her arms across her chest, hearing the laughs from Jeremy and Kai in the corner. They quickly ceased when Mal shot them an angry glare.

"On another note... you were a preppy kid?" Jeremy said, raising an eyebrow. "Wow, first the green hair and now this?"

"Jeremy!"

"Heh... oh wow green hair Blaise?" Mal laughed "Oh I would have loved to see that."

"Shut up, all of you. Not funny."

She blushed lightly and turned her head away from the dim light source to hide it. To avoid anyone else saying anything, she quickly continued talking, still avoiding everyone's looks.

* * *

_Finally turning towards Blaise and crouching in front of her, he smiled charmingly and extended a hand to help her up. She happily took it and used it to support herself as he hoisted her back to her feet. As he pulled her up, she took the opportunity to take in his appearance. He had faded blonde hair, turning brunette, and his fringe hung in front of his face slightly. He had neatly trimmed stubble, giving him a rugged mysterious look and deep oceanic blue eyes, unlike anything Blaise had ever seen before. His clothes were made up of blue jeans and a simple black tank top, revealing his muscular biceps._

"_I'm Malachi Fallon," He said, smiling. "But you can call me Mal." _

"_I'm Blaise Corso." _

"_Still gonna call you cowgirl." He chuckled._

"_Please don't..." _

"_No worries, no one else would dare to." _

_She raised an eyebrow at the comment, but didn't make any further inquiries about it. Instead she reached down and picked up her discarded planner on the floor, going to tuck it in her bag. Mal watched her do this but quickly taking it from her and flipping it over, looking at her timetable on the back. Blaise glared at Mal for a moment until she realised what he was doing, and waited patiently._

"_Ugh, English." He commented. "Just so happens to be my lesson too, so come on Corso, I'll show you around." _

_He started walking down the halls again, that were visibly emptying. Hesitating, Blaise followed closely behind, her eyes scanning the looks she kept on getting from girls, mainly shocked or scowling. As they walked, Blaise leaned around Mal slightly so she could see his face._

"_Why are you being so nice to me?" She asked. _

"_Dunno, I like your attitude." He answered simply, shrugging. _

_Blaise smirked and started to walk a little faster so she could walk along side Mal instead. When they passed a large group of cheerleaders, they all turned heads to Mal and giggled or blushed, especially when he nodded to them. Rolling her eyes, she refocused her attention on Mal, who was looking ahead. She noticed as he sauntered down the corridor, people seemed to move out of his way, so he never needed to dodge random students as they shuffled to lesson. It cut a lot of time off, she'll admit. _

"_Um," Blaise started, gaining Mal's attention." Why does everyone seem afraid of you?" _

"_Because they are." _

"_Why? You don't seem that bad... apart from pushing the jock into the locker."_

"_Heh... well right now I'm not a bad guy, just don't piss me off and I'll stay that way. Simple. Fear is a powerful thing to possess in college Corso." _

"_I can see that... so you're kind of the school 'bad boy' then?" _

"_Ha, you could say that."_

_This guy was so simplistic, easy answers, hardly any questions. Her type of person. She rolled her eyes and adjusted the bag resting on her shoulder. She couldn't believe that in no more than ten minutes in the school she had already got a nickname, and now met the school bad boy. He seemed nice underneath though, so she didn't mind. _

* * *

"Oh Mal..." Natara giggled. "Was he really that terrifying Blaise?"

"Kind of, yeah, especially if you pissed him off." Blaise laughed. "Ending up in the fight in the bathroom, breaking every single sink... That was awesome though, you've gotta admit it Mal."

"Hey, I _am_ awesome." Mal grinned. "And besides, I'd warned that guy too many times, he shouldn't have pissed me off again."

Blaise laughed. "You did get detention for a whole week though, which sucked."

Mal nodded in agreement, biting his lower lip. He looked towards Natara, who was shaking her head and grinning.

"Whoa Maligator... you were even cool back then!" Kai commented, beaming. "Kicking ass and spreading fear throughout the school land. Totally awesome."

"And yet, you're the kind of person I would have beaten up for no reason, Kai." Mal smiled slyly.

"Ah... yeah probably."

"Anyway guys, as much fun as this is, can I embarrass my good friend a little more?" Blaise laughed lightly.

Everyone settled down and nodded, reshuffling into more comfortable positions.

* * *

_They made their way up a couple flights of stairs before coming to a room entitled 'EN02'. Mal smiled and opened the door for her. Blaise gave Mal an appreciative nod and slid past him into the lesson. Mal stood leaning against the door, looking around and nodding at various people, while the teacher noticed Blaise and began to talk to her._

"_You must be my new student." She said, looking down at her register._

"_Yup, Blaise Corso. Shall I take a seat Miss?" _

"_Please. Any available seat will do, and anything you don't understand, let me know okay?"_

"_Got it. Thanks." _

_She scanned the room, looking at the different empty seats scattered around the room. _

"_Mal Fallon, go to your seat, I won't ask again." Miss Harold groaned. _

_Mal sighed and lazily dragged himself across the room to his seat in the far back corner of the room, sliding into his seat. A couple girls looked at him and giggled with each other, but all Blaise did was roll her eyes. He eyes fell on an open spot next to a girl that was near Mal, since he was the only person she knew it would be kind of comforting to be near him, so she slowly walked over and sat down. The girl she sat next to had long curly blonde-ish hair and brown eyes. She was among the girls that sat gawking at Mal, and not paying any attention to Blaise at all. The only difference was, with this chick, Mal actually recognised her looking at him and smiled. When he saw Blaise take a seat beside her, he smiled slightly, nodding to her as a sign of recognition. Blaise returned it before turning to the girl._

"_Hey," she started casually "I'm Blaise."_

_The girl scanned Blaise's appearance before she scrunched up her nose slightly and looked away._

"_Sandra." She said bluntly. _

_Blaise thought she saw a hint of disgust in her eyes, firing up her temper once more._

"_Great, more dumb bitchy blondes. Brilliant." She mumbled under her breath._

"_You say something?" Sandra asked, glancing at her._

"_Nope. You know Mal?" _

"_Know him?" she scoffed "He's my boyfriend." _

_The words shocked Blaise more than anything in a long while. Mal was dating... this chick? Why?_

* * *

"I'm being serious Fallon, _why_?"

"Can it cowgirl, she was different back then." Mal defended.

"Oh sure, sure. Dumb, blonde and has a nice body right? Must be love." Blaise teased, gaining a giggle from Natara.

"Whatever."

* * *

"_Y-You are?" _

"_Yep, aint I sweetie?" Sandra called._

_Mal nodded, but was otherwise silent. He reclined in his chair and got his phone out as Miss Harold started settling the class to begin the lesson. It was clear he wasn't listening. _

_After the long, endless, boring lesson which was so simple a child could have understood it, Blaise packed her stuff away and walked over to Mal, asking him what lesson he had next. Mal just held out his hand and Blaise put her planner in it. He looked at the back and smirked. _

"_You're in the same lessons as me all day Corso, just stick with me, you'll be alright." _

"_Thanks, I-"_

_She was cut off when Sandra shoved her aside and smiled innocently up at Mal. Blaise only now realised she was wearing a cheerleader uniform. Great. _

"_Hey baby, you coming?"_

"_Yeah."_

_Mal began walking, gesturing for Blaise to follow as Sandra stuck by his left side. She fought back a glare at Blaise as she slid her hand into Mal's. Blaise watched Mal's reaction, and saw nothing. Not even a smile. Nothing. This amused her for some reason and she lifted her head up proudly. They walked to their next lesson, doing the same thing over and over again until lunch. _

_At lunch, Blaise was unsure of what to do, she hadn't made any more friends since she had either sat with Sandra or Mal, but got the feeling she'd be intruding if she stuck by their side any longer. As there lesson finished, Blaise rushed over to Mal and pulled him aside._

"_Hey, since its lunch now... would you and Sandra like to be alone?" _

"_Nah, its fine Blaise. I said stick with me didn't I?" _

"_Yeah, but... I don't wanna intrude."_

"_Believe me, you won't. We sit with our group on the field anyway, so you're more than welcome to join us."_

"_Thanks." She smiled._

_They made their way out onto the field after eating and Mal led her over to a small group of people. He sat down casually, patting the empty space beside him. Blaise threw her bag aside and sat down, looking around. Everyone seemed relatively nice, and accepted her with open arms. Despite being ambushed with questions about herself, which she answered, the rest of the afternoon was a breeze. Even Sandra was bearable, and sometimes left to be with her cheerleader friends. _

"_You gonna try out?" Mal whispered to her as the others were talking._

"_Not a chance in hell." Blaise replied, laughing._

"_Good." _

* * *

"The end, who's next?"

"Wait a second," Natara said "What happened after that?"

"Nothing much, same boring lessons, different day. Mal got into trouble... a lot. I just stuck with him mainly."

"Yep, she was probably the only one I could put up with for more than a couple hours." Mal chuckled.

"Anyway, what time is it?"

"Um... 6:00pm" Jeremy said, checking his wrist watch.

"The storm?"

He stood up and walked over to the window, looking out.

"Nope, still going strong."

"Crap. Well then, someone else go before I get bored again please."

* * *

_**Thanks for reading, there will now be an endless list to add on to this chapter! AND WHO'S NEXT? :D**_

_**Review Replies (Chapter 1):**_

_**Things in Ink: Thanks so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it, and yeah I'd wondered that too so I wrote it! Haha. I wanted to try and write for Kai, see if I actually could or if it would just flop! XD I'd love my own fanbase! Thanks for your suggestions, I'll definitely take them into account and try to incorporate them somewhere :)**_

_**Bananaballer13: Haha that's interesting, but I don't think I'll be able to put that Mal moment in there I'm afraid! Thanks for all your suggestions, I'll definitely take them into account and try to incorporate them somewhere :) It's not too much, no worries, I like to hear what you want to see! THANKS! **_

_**Oryt: No way... what's the matter? :O Haha yeah I know, I wanted to make Kai seem like he actually works sometimes though. Thanks for your suggestion, I decided to use it. :) Close, it's Killer Kalaba. (No way! TELL THEM TO SHOVE IT AND LET YOU PLAY hahah! I know right, so obvious. Same here!) Awww I repeat, tell me why! **_

_**Bonnie Salvatore: Thanks for your suggestions, I'll definitely take them into account and try to incorporate them somewhere :)**_

_**Jupal: Haha thanks for the idea, I might chose to do that! Heh. Thanks again for your advice etc. :)**_

_**Nat157s: Natalie! Your reviews always make me smile with all your words, thanks SO much for reading and reviewing. **_

_**The Sarcastic Polar Bear: Haha thanks! I hope you do!**_

_**Cool22hd: Heh, I think it's the first time someone's called me Mozzi-Girl instead of Molly. Awesome. Thanks for your suggestions, I'll definitely take them into account and try to incorporate them somewhere :) I'd love to hear any suggestions you have, since you seem like that's not the only one haha.**_

_**Maltarajaise: Thanks for the review. Thanks for your suggestions, I'll definitely take them into account and try to incorporate them somewhere :) Do I? I don't mean to, that's not how I think I'm presenting her across... You want a sequel to Lost in Blue? **_

_**But I Have Promises To Keep: Thanks so much!**_

_**HopelessRomantic1994: Haha thanks so much, glad you're enjoying it! Thanks for your suggestions, I'll definitely take them into account and try to incorporate them somewhere :)**_

_**BreezyFan: Lisa! Haha yes, yes you did. :D Thanks, I just couldn't resist putting that in there! Awesome, can't wait! Thanks again!**_

* * *

_**Review Replies: (Chapter 2):**_

_**HopelessRomantic1994: You think so? Awww thanks, relief! Haha I would have updated sooner, but been so busy lately it's unreal! Thanks, I'm sorry it wasn't Natara, but the votes stated Blaise! **_

_**Things in Ink: Oh good, I'm glad you thought that, I was worried! Love that idea, I'll probably do that one ;) **_

_**BreezyFan: Phew. Thanks for saying that, I was worried! Haha bickering is a babe sometimes. Thanks for the idea, I'll try to incorporate it or something :) **_

_**Oryt: Haha thanks for the review, I'm afraid you were outvoted though... You still upset btw? **_

_**Maltarajaise: Thanks for reviewing Sarah. Um... I didn't think I was, sorry if she came across that way :/ It was supposed to be playful banter, since Blaise normally called Natara princess in earlier episodes. Are you not happy with this story? If so, please let me know, I care about my readers! (I miss Kenneth too...*sniffle*) **_

_**But I Have Promises To Keep: I did? Aww thanks, I appreciate the review :D **_

_**Gummybear1622: Hehe, thanks for reviewing, I got their relationship from earlier episodes. Sorry you got outvoted, but if you'd like to vote again for him, then please go ahead! Thanks, I'll try hehehe :)**_

_**The Sarcastic Polar Bear: Haha here's Blaise for you! Glad you liked it, thanks for reviewing!**_

_**Diamondsintheroughhh: Sorry you got outvoted, but feel free to vote again! Thanks for reviewing!**_

_**PrincessLiveh: haha what's your actual pen name? I took on your idea and incorporated it into her outfit, hope you liked it. Thanks for reviewing! I've taken your suggestions onboard and will try to fit them in! Thanks again! :)**_

_**Nat157s: Haha thanks for the awesome review Natalie, I appreciate all the lovely stuff you've said! :D**_

_**Anonymous: Okie dokie, here's Blaise for you. Thanks for reviewing, whoever you are ;D **_

_**My Quiet Riot: Thanks for the kind words and the review! Glad it made you laugh, what I was hoping for! :') Thanks again!**_


	4. Natara

_Memories_

_ Chapter Four (Natara)_

_**Hello everyone, sorry for the short delay in updating, I re-wrote this a number of times as I didn't like the scenario or anything, plus it was CoD Monday yesterday ;D Since no one voted I've come up with a plan to have Natara, then Jeremy, then Mal to finish off. You know, since Blaise was talking about College so I thought I could link that in with Natara's high school past, and then continue with Jeremy that would lead to Mal. If that makes sense? Sound okay? Anyway, HUGE thank you to everyone that read/reviewed etc. I appreciate all of your support! :D Hope you like this chapter.**_

* * *

_**Review Replies:**_

_**Things in Ink: **__**Thanks for all your words, maybe next round (if I decide to do one) I'll include your idea! Thanks again Rose!**_

_**The Sarcastic Polar Bear: **__**Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it!**_

_**BreezyFan: **__**Haha I can imagine that dance now xD You want a sequel to Lost In Blue? :O Well then, I shall begin planning. Thanks so much Lisa!**_

_**My Quiet Riot: **__**Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, don't worry Mal's memories are so fun to write so I might write about his rebelliousness if you want me to.**_

_**Nat157s: **__**Thanks for the awesome review Natalie, made me smile loads! I'm glad you thought I got Blaise's character correct too and I had to include Sandra and Mal of course haha. Hehe that's our rugged babe after all! You think so? :O THANKS! :D **_

_**But I Have Promises To Keep: **__**Thank youuuu :)**_

_**HopelessRomantic1994: **__**You are? Hehe that's great to hear, thanks so much!**_

_**Maltarajaise: **__**Oh good, glad you enjoyed it. Urrmm, I'm not sure as of yet, depending on if I can come up with more memories for each of them but I might only do one memory each, depends! How long would you like it anyway? :) You want a sequel to Lost in Blue too? I shall plan, no worries... ah, dying, lovely haha ;)**_

* * *

"I'll go next," Natara said softly "Your story kind of reminded me of my high school times."

"Ooohh," Mal chuckled "We're actually going to hear about nerdy Nat in high school?"

"I wasn't a nerd Mal! I was just... intellectual. And popular people frowned upon that..."

"Still I gotta hear this."

"You know what, fine; I'll tell you about a time when I actually gained a boyfriend in high school then."

"Oh this I have to hear, go on girl!" Blaise chirped in.

Mal had fallen silent, twiddling his thumbs. Jeremy and Kai listened in unusual silence while Blaise wore a huge grin on her face. Natara looked to Mal and smiled, reaching over and nudging his arm, making him look at her. She said nothing, only smiled at him. Mal tried to fight it, but couldn't stop the smile that found its way onto his lips as well. Leaning back in her chair, Natara thought for a short moment and then smiled again.

* * *

_Natara sat in the last double lesson of the day, which just so happened to be her favourite: Psychology. It was Tuesday, and like most Tuesdays, Natara had been looking forward to this lesson all day. Beside her was her best friend in the whole world, Jessica Parke. Jessica 'Jess' Parke was a couple of months younger than Natara and had beautiful, long, wavy auburn hair that flowed elegantly down to her shoulders, with clear pale skin and sparkling light blue eyes. Jessica hardly ever wore very much make-up and you could see that she was naturally beautiful. Despite her beauty though, she was pushed into the 'nerd' category in this school, much like Natara herself. Having joined a number of curricular activities, by choice, it was hard to even gain a look from one of the popular kids, let alone be spoken to by them; unless they wanted you to 'help' them with their homework, meaning they wanted you to it for them. Natara never said okay to that. Ever. They could do their own damn homework. _

_Listening to her psychology teacher, Miss Best, explain in detail the theory of Criminal Psychology, Natara found she was unable to pull away from every word her teacher said. It was fascinating, but she couldn't understand how people could do such horrible things, driven by a traumatic event or some other cause. After that, Miss Best began explaining the core theory, which was the James Bulger case. And a horrific case at that. They got a brief rundown of the incident and psychology behind it before Miss Best put on a case study video and the rest of the class began moving into different seats dotted around the room to be with their friends. _

_Natara and Jessica didn't move though, since they were already sat where they wanted to be, but in a couple moments as the video started, Natara felt someone's presence the other side of her at the end of her table. She didn't move, pretending to be looking at her book, but she risked a look out of the corner of her eye at the figure and could make out it was masculine. _

_Jessica wore a completely puzzled look upon her face as she looked at the guy sat beside Natara. When the guy subtly nudged her arm she immediately looked up and met the mysterious grey eyes of her short time crush..._

_Phillip Johnson. _

_When he smiled at her subtly, only the corners of his mouth raising slightly, she couldn't stop the grin that forced its way onto her lips, not forgetting to try and hide her braces by lowering her gaze faintly. _

_Phillip Johnson, the schools heartthrob was actually communicating with her, she couldn't believe it, but still didn't put her guard down. Most likely he just needed some help with the work. Nevertheless, she couldn't stop her stomach from doing back flips from the excitement of it all. Phillip had grey eyes, and short dark blonde hair. His skin tone was lightly tanned and he was extremely fit. Handsome and neatly styled, Phillip was by far the most handsome guy in the entire school. Almost every girl wanted him, Natara included. _

"_Hey Natara," He whispered with his masculine yet genteel voice. "Do you understand this... stuff?"_

"_Y-Yeah." She stuttered, mentally cursing her sudden shyness. She was Natara Mansingh; she didn't get nervous especially over silly matters such as this. "Do you need some help?"_

"_Kind of, I get parts of it, and I've heard Psychology is kind of your thing... so..." his voice trailed off._

"_So...?" Natara urged._

"_Would you, I mean if it's not too much trouble, would you mind... tutoring me?"_

_Natara sat in silence for a short moment, taken aback by the question. Sure she thought he was just using her for knowledge, but this was Phillip Johnson asking her to tutor him, not some stuck up cheerleader. She found herself unable to speak, so instead just nodded her head a number of times. Watching as Phillip's face broke into a huge smile and he reached over, placing his hand on top of hers. She blushed slightly, but luckily the darkness of the classroom obscured it. _

"_Thanks Natara, I'm really grateful for this." _

"_A-Anytime." _

_With that said, Phillip leaned back in his chair, thus ending their conversation. He resumed talking to his friends, and Natara went back to watching the video. _

"_What was that Nat?" Jessica whispered wearing a huge cheesy grin on her face. _

"_Oh, nothing Jess," Natara replied casually "I'm just going to start tutoring Phillip about Psychology."_

"_Wait, what?" _

"_Shhh!"_

"_Sorry... what?" Jessica whispered. "You never tutor anyone, especially not the popular kids."_

"_So? People can change, why not share my knowledge? Besides this is different Jess, he's not asking me to do the work for him; he just wants help is all."_

"_Suuurrreee he does." She scoffed._

"_Hey, if he wants me to do work for him, I'll stop tutoring him straight away. No way I'm doing stuff for people, they can do it themselves." _

"_There's the Natara I know! Just don't get distracted because of his looks. He's-"_

"_Just a guy, I know."_

"_Exactly." _

_Jessica smiled and threw an arm around Natara, pulling her into a quick hug. Then they resumed watching the documentary until the lesson ended, taking notes and exchanging polite chit-chat about the work. _

* * *

"Total. Nerd." Mal commented, smiling slyly at Natara and leaning back in his chair.

"Shut it Mal, I wasn't that nerdy!"

"Riigghhhtt, just taking notes and talking about the work instead of ignoring the documentary and talking about _actual_ things. Nerdy."

"That's not nerdy, that's called 'caring about schoolwork'."

Blaise pulled her feet off of Natara's desk finally and repositioned herself so she was leaning forward.

"Anyway," she said, smirking "Natara this guy sounds _so sexy._"

"Oh he totally was, not gonna lie."

"Where can I find him? Seriously, I wanna track this guy down!"

Natara and Blaise laughed while Jeremy and Kai exchanged a glance that clearly said they didn't want to hear this story or be here right now. No guy liked to hear about girls swooning over other guys. Mal sunk into himself, dreading hearing the rest of the story, the way Natara spoke about this Phil guy irked him even more than when she spoke about Oscar. He despised hearing about her boyfriends, ex or present. It made him... jealous if he was honest with himself. They might have all screwed things up with Natara one way or another, but at least they had a chance with her, which is more than he could say. No matter what he thought though, he was forced to listen as she continued her memory.

* * *

_After the double lesson had ended it was time to go home and before Natara could walk out, Phillip caught up with her and grabbed her arm gently. Jess waited by the door, until Natara gave her a look that told her to wait outside. When Jess was out of sight, Phillip began talking._

"_I forgot to ask when you'd like to start the tutoring."_

"_Oh, anytime. I'm free whenever Phillip."_

"_Call me Phil," He smiled charmingly, gaining a smile back from Natara. "And... how about starting now?"_

"_Oh okay... Now?" _

"_Yeah, if that's alright. I'd like to start as soon as possible."_

"_Um... s-sure, why not? We can go back to mine if you want?"_

_Natara realized how utterly awful that sounded but tried not to show her embarrassment. Phil just chuckled, grasping what she said, but didn't comment. He just nodded in reply and grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. Natara smiled sheepishly and turned on her heel, heading outside and meeting Jess who had been waiting. _

_They all walked out the school gates and down the road in the direction of Natara's house. Talking about random things with Jess and surprisingly Phil, Natara found herself feeling more relaxed around him, which was unusual. The point came where Jess and Natara would part ways, Jess heading in the direction of her house and Natara in hers. They shared a long hug before saying their goodbyes and parting. _

_Phil stayed silent until Natara was ready and they began walking down the road again. Phil slid his hands into his pockets and looked straight ahead of him. Natara had suddenly run out of things to talk about and felt her throat tighten again. They walked in an awkward silence for what felt like forever until Phil broke the silence._

"_So... have you been interested in Psychology long? I thought you were into Business studies?" _

"_Uhh, I'm not sure really. It's kind of expected of me to go into business, since my dad owns his own company and everything... I just find psychology interesting, learning how people's brains work and stuff, you know?"_

"_Yeah I feel you. My dad's like yours in a way, apart from he isn't some millionaire who owns his own business," Phil chuckled "He wants me to follow in his footsteps and become a doctor. I really don't wanna be that though."_

"_No? A doctor sounds pretty interesting though."_

"_It is, I guess, but it's-"_

"_Not your thing?" Natara finished, smiling caringly. _

"_Exactly. At least you understand. It just seems that everyone wants you to be something, you know? My friends want me to be the quarterback in football, my dad wants me to be a doctor and my mom wants me to be something really successful." _

"_Like a doctor?"_

"_Yeah... like a doctor."_

"_What do you want to be though? Forgetting the expectations of your friends and family, of course."_

"_I wanna be..."_

"_Yes?"_

"_An air pilot." He whispered, almost shyly. "In the army, you know the air force."_

"_Really? I would have never guessed-"_

"_I know it's stupid." He mumbled._

"_No!" Natara protested, stopping walking outside her door and opening it. "Phil, that's not stupid at all, being a pilot sounds amazing. Especially if you want to do it for the army, I think that's amazing." _

_Natara smiled sweetly up at Phil and gestured him to follow her to the study room upstairs. She quickly greeted her family and heading up the stairs, Phil close behind her. He shyly said a small greeting, but otherwise stayed silent, at least until they got upstairs._

"_Thanks for doing this Natara, I actually thought you might say no... Since you normally do to anyone that asks you."_

"_Yeah, but that's only because they want me to do their work for them. I hate that. I would gladly help them with work but never do it for them, there would be no point. In the end they wouldn't learn anything."_

"_I totally understand that, and also thanks for understanding my dream, no one seems to."_

"_No problem, thanks for sharing it with me."_

_They shared a short smile before Natara threw open the door and strolled inside the study. The study walls were lined with books of all kinds and on the far left wall was a large oak desk. Natara lazily threw her bag in the corner and walked over to the centre of the room, where a coffee table and a two seated sofa resided. She sat down and patted the empty space next to her, gesturing for Phil to sit beside her. He hesitated, but walked over and slumped down, putting him bag beside him neatly. _

"_So, first things first," Natara started formally "what things are you struggling with in psychology Phil?"_

"_Um... most of it."_

"_Just Criminal Psychology or...?"_

"_No, most of it." He laughed lightly._

"_Ah, that's not a problem; we can always start at the beginning. Memory to be precise."_

"_Great!" Phil smiled._

_Natara got up and walked over to the bookshelf, scanning it and taking out a large book entitled 'Memory'. She walked back over and handed the book to Phil, who looked at it blankly. Laughing, Natara turned to a page and told him to read through it while she prepared. _

_They studied for most of the night until it was getting late and Phil would be forced to leave, by orders from her parents. Natara quickly ran through what they had gone over and even though it wasn't much, Phillip seemed to have understood parts of what Natara had taught him, which was an improvement._

"_See? You understand parts of it, and that's really good for one afternoon." Natara said reassuringly. _

"_Yeah..." Phillip bit his lower lip and looked up at Natara. "Thanks for doing this."_

"_It's fine Phil, you can stop thanking me. It's getting late though, you should probably..."_

"_Yeah, my dad would be worried about me."_

_Natara took the book off Phillip and replaced it back among the shelves once more, before leading Phil outside of the study and downstairs to the front door. As she opened it and stepped outside onto the front porch with Phil, she felt the icy cold night air whip gently at her skin. The night sky was illuminated with a couple of visible stars in the polluted city and the bright, white moon resided above them. The city skyline was visible in the distance, and a couple of stray cars drove by with their lights beaming ahead of them. _

"_Phil," Natara said, getting him to look at her with those sparkling grey eyes of his. "Are you going to be alright walking alone at this time of night?"_

"_Oh, yeah I'll be fine, no worries."_

"_Are you sure though? You've heard about what can happen at night..."_

"_Natara," Phil said, taking her hand gently "I'll be fine. My home isn't that far from here."_

"_I could probably get my mom or dad to drive you if-"_

"_No, it's fine. I'll... cya tomorrow at school then."_

"_Y-Yeah. Just, be careful." _

"_Always am. Goodnight Natara."_

"_Goodnight Phillip." _

_They stood together for a moment longer before Natara noticed Phil looking away and biting his lower lip. She was going to question him, but before she could he reached over and quickly wrapped him muscular arm around her petite waist. Natara gasped as he pulled her close to him and put her hands against his hard chest. She immediately blushed heavily, unable to hide her face from him, which made her blush even more. He smiled down at her for a long moment, scanning her features, before tenderly stroking her cheek. His hand moved behind her neck and he pulled her into a long blissful kiss._

_She felt her knees go weak and her eyes widened at the shock of it all. Phillip Johnson. Gorgeous, muscular, charming, adorable Phillip Johnson was actually kissing her. HER. 'Nerdy Natara' as the popular kids teased her. She couldn't believe it, feeling her heart pounding in her chest and her stomach getting butterflies. He pulled away after an all too perfect moment and looked away, suddenly going shy. _

"_T-Thanks again, Nat. I'll... call you?"_

_Not waiting for a reply he took off, his hands dug in his pockets and his head hung low. She was stood in complete shock as she watched him fade into the distance, speechless. Subconsciously, Natara reached up and ran her fingers across her lips, feeling herself smile uncontrollably. Phillip hadn't cared about her being a nerd, or the fact she had horrible braces on her teeth. He had kissed her, and then said he'd call her! She felt herself want to squeal with delight... _

_Until she saw that her Dad was watching from the living room window. Hell. _

* * *

"Reminding you that you are engaged Natara." Mal mumbled, folding his arms across his chest with an unhappy look on his face.

"Oh shush you," Natara retorted playfully "I can reminisce about my past can't I?"

"... I suppose so."

"Exactly."

"Natara, why on earth did you let him go?" Blaise inquired, beaming.

"I... didn't." Natara replied shyly.

"Oh? What happened?"

"He... joined the army." Natara said calmly "We eventually decided a long term relationship wouldn't work out and that contact with him was hard to come by anyway, so... we ended it. Haven't seen or heard from him since."

"Awww... sorry to hear that Natara."

"Don't be, I have Oscar after all right?"

"True, Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome. I'd have him if you hadn't snagged him first!"

"Blaise!" Natara giggled "You have no shame."

"Nope!"

They laughed again and Jeremy groaned. Blaise shot him a look that settled him.

"What?"

"Can we just move on please?" Jeremy begged "This sappy girl story is killing me."

"Fine," Blaise smirked "since you're so keen to move on, go ahead Jeremy. You tell us a story."

"Finally!" Kai perked up, straightening himself up. "Go on Redbird, _please_."

"Okay, okay Kai."

"Make it entertaining, oh! How about one where you use your awesome Native American magic on something?"

"Kai... I haven't got... ugh, never mind."

Jeremy rubbed the bridge of his nose while Kai continued to ramble on about Native American, so called, 'Magic'. He just didn't understand at all... there was no magic, it was _completely _different. There was no such thing as magic anyway.

Ugh... what would they do with him.


	5. Jeremy

_Memories_

_Chapter Five (Jeremy)_

_**Almost a week since I've updated, sorry guys, but I've been focusing more on my drawing lately. It calms me down. I'll try to update quicker next time. Hope you enjoy this chapter and I would do review replies but I'm pressed for time so I'll just say an ENORMOUS THANK YOU to everyone out there who read/reviewed/followed etc. I love you all so much :') **_

* * *

After a painful five minutes of hearing Jeremy trying to explain to Kai about Native American culture and that it was, in fact, _not _magic related in any way, Mal resulted in standing up and walking calmly over to Kai, grabbing him by the scruff of his lab coat and dragging him outside his office, before slamming the door in his face. Natara watched as he did this, seeing the utterly serene look on Mal's face, even when he sat back down and released a sigh. She raised an eyebrow at him and smirked, fighting back a laugh.

"What?" He asked innocently, a huge grin on his face giving away that he wasn't serious in the slightest.

"Oh nothing..." Natara retorted playfully. "Just the fact that you did that unusually calmly."

"Well you are the one who tells me to calm down an awful lot, so I did. I handled Kai in a calm and collected way."

"_Suurreee_... and you don't feel like punching him?"

"_Well_... I didn't say that Miss Profiler."

Natara giggled and rolled her eyes jokingly. Jeremy was staring at the door, smiling slightly, while Blaise rubbing her temples to stop the increasing headache that Kai had given her from his ramble.

"This storm needs to stop soon, before I kill somebody." Blaise grumbled.

Then there is was. The subtle knocking coming from Mal's office door. Everyone heaved a sigh as Jeremy pulled himself to his feet and trudged over to the door, opening it and looking at the person stood there. Sure enough it was still Kai. He looked down to avoid eye contact, putting his hands behind his back and subtly moving his foot left and right on the ground. After a short moment, he didn't lift his head but looked up, almost puppy-like and whimpered.

"Can I come back now? I'll be good... promise."

"Awww..." Natara said and looked to Mal, who shook his head "Come on Mal, _please_?"

"Ugh," Mal huffed, folding his arms across his chest and slumping further into his chair. "Fine, but if he annoys me once more-"

"Yeah, yeah we get it." Natara smiled "Cool it Mr Tough Guy."

Despite himself, Mal smiled and looked up towards Natara out of the corner of his eye. She was smiling at him, before gesturing Kai back in. Kai cautiously shuffled back inside and plopped himself down in the corner, cross-legged, with a small candle in front of him that he'd taken from the circle in the centre of Mal and Natara's conjoined desks.

"Yeah... _anyway_," Blaise finally spoke up "Redbird, you were gonna tell us your memory or whatever?"

"Oh right! Um... well what would you like to hear about?"

"I'd actually like to know what made you get into police work Redbird." Mal spoke up, completely relaxed in his office chair and with his arms folded across his chest.

"Oh... well that's quite a good question actually."

* * *

_Jeremy pushed open the back door of the temporary job he was working at and shuffled out, completely exhausted from doing a double shift to fill in for one of his co workers. He hated this damn job. The only reason he put up with it was to earn some money for himself until he could find something better. The problem was that he didn't even know what he wanted to be yet, and was finishing college soon. The courses he took where all around meaning they could fit some jobs he had in mind, but still couldn't decide which one to go with no matter how often he pondered on the thought. _

_Today's shift had taken up his entire day, starting at 9am and finishing at precisely 8:30pm. The sun had already finished setting, leaving the black night sky to take over in its place, the only sources of light coming from the moon and stars, and the tacky dim lighting from a lamppost. He walked over to his car and threw his stuff in the back seat, before proceeding to walk around to the driver's seat and head off back home. The roads were quieter than expected, only the occasional car passed by him on the opposite side of the road as he weaved through the city streets. After about a ten minute drive, Jeremy pulled into a suburban area and parked in front of a medium sized house. _

_He stood by the gate that opened up to a path leading to his home, just looking at the window on the lower left. There, was his family. His mother, father, and little brother all stood together in the living room, smiling and laughing as his parents watched his brother entertain them. He smiled gently, watching them for a brief moment longer before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking towards the door. He pushed open the door and closed it behind him, yelling a greeting to let his family know he was back. _

_Almost instantly his little brother, Evan Redbird, came rushing into the hallways, tackling him into a hug and almost knocking him over._

"_Hey Jeremy!" He said, beaming up at his brother. "I missed you!"_

"_I've missed you too Evan." Jeremy replied, prying his brother off him after a long moment. "Hey Mom, Dad."_

"_Hello sweetheart, good day?" his Mum asked softly, leading them all back into the living room. _

"_Not really... long day more like." He mumbled._

_His Mum led him to the couch and sat him down, placing her soft hand atop his and rubbing it gently with her thumb. She smiled at him while his Dad and brother were talking on the other side of the room. Jeremy's mother had long black hair that flowed down just above her waist and soft green eyes. He got his blue eyes from his father, and Evan had his mother's eyes. She wore a lovely subtle brown dress and light crème cardigan that hung open, it made her eyes pop. _

"_It'll get better Jeremy, you'll see." _

"_Thanks Mom..." _

_Before his mother could reply, Jeremy's phone went off in his pocket and he excused himself quickly to take the call. It was his good friend from high school, Gareth Fable, and he answered immediately. _

"_Gareth." He greeted._

"_Jereeemmyyyy," Gareth's voice came through the line, he sounded excited, but he always did. "I was thinking since you did, like, a double shift today, that tomorrow me, you and the rest of the crew should go hiking like old times! Whatcha say?"_

"_Um... if I'm not exhausted tomorrow I guess we could, sounds fun."_

"_GREAT! Well..." _

_Jeremy had to hold the phone away from his ear for a little while, waiting for Gareth to finish rambling. He took the opportunity to steal a look at his family again, seeing Evan sat on the floor in front of the fire, waiting for him to join. In the evenings they would usually gather around the fire and Evan would make Jeremy tell him a story before he went to bed. Today was supposed to be that night, but to be honest; Jeremy was feeling extremely tired and wanted nothing more to just sleep. _

"_Jeremy? You still there?"_

_He snapped out of his thoughts and held the phone to his ear again, starting to walk around the room as he confirmed their plans for tomorrow. _

"_Alright, cya tomorrow Gareth."_

"_Bye Jeremy!"_

_He hung up and walked back into the living room, over to his mum and kissing her forehead._

"_Night Mom." He said softly_

"_But... Jeremy, its Friday..." Evan mumbled, looking up at his older brother with large puppy-dog eyes. "You always tell-"_

"_Evan." Jeremy said softly, bending down to look his brother in the eyes "Can I tell you one tomorrow instead? I'm super tired."_

"_Oh... I guess so." _

"_Sorry buddy, how about I tell you two stories tomorrow instead to make up for it?"_

_Evan thought it over for a long moment, before his face broke into a smile. He nodded enthusiastically and gave Jeremy a long hug._

"_Night Evan, Night Dad."_

"_Goodnight Jeremy." His dad replied, with his head absorbed in a book. _

_Jeremy trudged up to his bedroom and flopped onto his bed after getting changed, groaning. He hated his job. Sleep didn't come easily as his mind wrestled with job options once more, trying to make the life changing decision. His attempts were futile though; every option seemed like the right one... or was they all wrong? He couldn't be sure. Anything was better than the awful job he was working at the minute. _

* * *

"You have a brother Jeremy?" Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep, but I don't see him that often anymore ... we grew apart when he got a girlfriend."

"Ah, I know the feeling Redbird." Mal said, nodding slowly.

"You do?"

"Yeah the same sort of thing happened with me and my sister, Cynthia. She got a boyfriend and moved out the first chance she got to be with him in Centrescore. A little more than a year later, I had my first niece."

"Wow, wish I had a niece."

"Heh... it is pretty awesome, I guess."

"What's the age difference between you and your brother Jeremy?" Natara inquired, tilting her head slightly and smiling.

"Oh, ten years."

"Awww..."

"You and your sister... do you ever feel undying need to protect them?"

"All the time." Natara stated.

"Oh good," Jeremy sighed "Thought it might be just me."

"Never!"

Natara smiled and patted Jeremy's shoulder.

"Anyway, go on Redbird; get to the bit where you actually decided to be a cop!" Blaise said.

* * *

_The next morning Jeremy woke up and checked his phone, seeing one new message. He clicked it open and read it. _

_From: Gareth Fable 9:48  
Hey Jeremy! We're meeting a little earlier than expected, 11am at my place. Cya then._

_Jeremy glanced over to the clock and cursed under his breath. It was already 10:30! He jumped out of bed and rushed to get ready, skipping breakfast and running out the door with only a quick Good Morning to his parents, who always seemed to be up at ungodly hours of the morning. _

_He drove quickly, but was careful not to go over the speed limit, until he reached Gareth's house. He ran up the stone steps into the apartment complex and up to room 183 and ratted on the wood. He was panting from all the running, but made it with a couple minutes to spare. The door opened and Gareth stood in front of him, a goofy smile on his face._

"_Hey buddy! Took ya long enough! We're all ready to go and you're just waltzing around outside!" _

"_Gareth," Jeremy panted "Shut. Up." _

_Gareth Fable wore a stripy white and blue shirt and light blue trousers with brown shoes. Jeremy didn't even have chance to step into the apartment before Gareth and his two other friends, Jake and Marcus, came rushing out, dragging him along with them._

"_Come onnnn, we gotta get going!" _

_Without time to even process what was going on, Jeremy was already in the back of Jake's car, since Gareth was riding shotgun. _

* * *

"This Gareth guy is really starting to remind me of..." Mal started, but his voice trailed off.

Everyone turned their heads at the same time and their eyes landed on a hunched up figure in the corner, a single candle illuminating his face. He looked up and at each of the faces staring back at him.

"..._What?_" Kai asked quietly.

Sharing a miniscule glance between one another, everyone burst into laughter. Kai raised an eyebrow and unfolded himself, reclining on his hands and looked around.

"Seriously, what's so funny? I wanna know!" He whined, but no one responded to him.

"That has answered _so_ many questions" Mal said through laughter.

After a long couple of minutes of pure laughter, gaining looks and officers heads peering inside Mal's office to view the scene, the laughter ceased and everyone was panting on the floor.

"No idea why that made me laugh so much" Blaise mumbled.

"Ditto"

"Same here"

"I still don't get it..." Kai whimpered.

"A-Anyway... continue Redbird."

* * *

_Jake pulled up on the outskirts of Sugarloaf Mountain and exited their vehicle, opening the boot of the car and grabbing their backpacks and throwing them over their shoulders. Without further debate, they began heading for the peak of the mountain, Jeremy beside Gareth and Jake with Marcus. _

_The walk was long and blissful, the trees towering above them and preventing the heat from the sun burning their skin. They trekked up about half way along the mountain before stopping for a rest. They collapsed onto the ground and opened their bags, downing a bottle of water. The fluid was refreshing as it travelled down Jeremy's throat and he was breaking a sweat. _

"_Whose idea was this again?" Marcus said._

"_Gareth's obviously" Jake mumbled._

_There was a long moment of silence and everyone took a long rest before Jake and Marcus stood up again. _

"_Well come on then," Jake said, smiling and throwing his backpack over his shoulder again. _

"_We'll catch you up guys, Gary and I need longer to rest." _

"_Okay then." _

_Jake and Marcus began heading off up the mountain again and Jeremy watched them with Gareth until they were out of sight. Jeremy and Gareth spoke for a while about anything that popped into their heads until their breathing regulated again._

"_Let's head on out, the guys will be waiting for us at the checkpoint." Gareth said, standing up._

_Jeremy nodded and stood up again, with his backpack in hand. He began walking towards the forests again when Jeremy noticed an unfamiliar figure lurking in the shadows behind a tree. Momentary panic overtook him, but he quickly pushed it away, shaking his head to get rid of the thoughts. _

"_Come on Gary," Jeremy said, turning around for a moment to find his friend. "Gareth? Where are you?"_

_Gareth was nowhere in sight and Jeremy quickly pivoted on one foot and looked around the area. He called again but still got no response. Jeremy gulped, biting his lower lip. His eyes drifted once more to the area that the figure once stood at, but before he could turn around fully, Jeremy felt a heavy object impact his ribs. He let out a cry of pain and collapsed to the floor, feeling another blow to the ribs. It felt like a boot. He was heavily winded and struggled to breathe. He whimpered in pain and glanced upward to the face of his attacker, but all he could see was a dark silhouette stood in front of the blinding sunlight._

"_W-What do you want? Where's Gareth? What did you to wit-?"_

_He was cut off from receiving another blow to his head, making his vision waver for a short moment. _

"_Quiet." The gruff voice of a man growled. "I want your stuff kid. Now." _

"_N-No, I don't have anything. I promise. Please, where's my friend?"_

"_I said QUIET!" _

_The man kicked Jeremy hard in the ribs again before bending down over him and grabbing him by the collar, pulling him up so the man got in his face. Jeremy could only make out the man's eyes, a deep grey colour, since the rest of his face was covered by a ski mask. _

"_Give me your stuff. I won't ask again."_

_For some reason, Jeremy felt a wave of anger wash over him and he didn't care about the pain for a moment, he guessed it was adrenaline pumping through him. He shoved the man backward off him and stood up, gaining a little distance between them._

"_I said I haven't got anything, so back off and tell me where the hell my friend is!"_

_The man didn't answer but instead started walking towards him, obviously trying to be intimidating, whom he'd admit, the man was scary. His build was enormous and towered over him. Jeremy subtly gulped and backed off slightly, but the masked man still stalked towards him._

"_Stay away from me man, I'm not joking."_

"_I told you I wouldn't ask again boy."_

_With that said the man grabbed Jeremy and delivered a swift jab to his stomach, causing him to lurch over. He didn't let up and continued to deliver blows to Jeremy's stomach and ribs, until he heard one crack and pain flared through his body. No matter if Jeremy managed to retaliate and get a few hits, it didn't seem to faze the man. Eventually Jeremy was bleeding and heavily beaten, the man let him drop to the floor. He towered above him, his grey eye narrowing into a harsh glare. Jeremy found himself wondering why no one had come to their aid, the hiking path was just over there. Many people had passed them by while they were resting, so why not now? The man chuckled and grabbed Jeremy's backpack, rifling through it before slinging it over his broad shoulder._

"_Goodnight Redbird." _

"_H-How do you know my n-name?" Jeremy stuttered, his annoying habit returning from when he was in high school. _

_The man didn't respond, but instead just raised his boot above Jeremy's head. The last things he took in before the boot came crashing down was: the man's harsh grey eyes, hate burning in them; the blinding sunlight; the indescribable pain surging through almost every inch of his body, but most importantly, something that haunted him since was the distinctive cry for help from one of his best friends, from Gareth Fable._

"_Help me! Jeremy! Please!" _

_He would never forget that moment. _

* * *

"Oh my..." Natara gasped, holding her hand over her mouth. "What happened after that?"

"Yeah, dude was you both alright?!" Kai piped up.

"Redbird... damn man. That's rough." Mal mumbled, shocked by the events.

Blaise sat speechless and leaned over, patting his hand comfortingly. Jeremy looked to her and smiled, gaining one back. They didn't have to say anything but they communicated through the looks they shared.

* * *

_Jeremy's eyes fluttered open and he was met by the familiar scene of white walls and the distinct smell of steriliser. He was in a hospital. _

"_J-Jeremy?" _

_His eyes slowly wandered over to the small figure sat beside him. It was Evan, with puffy red eyes obviously from crying earlier in the evening, and wearing Jeremy's jacket that was two sizes too big and was baggy around him. _

"_Hey Evan..." he whispered, his voice hoarse and dry. _

"_W-What happened?"_

"_I got... beat up, nothing to worry about buddy."_

"_You-"_

_The door opened and Jeremy's mother walked into the room, followed by his father shortly behind her. Seeing he was awake, they gasped and rushed over, gently hugging her son. Jeremy felt pain flare through his body and he grunted in pain. _

"_Sorry sweetie, oh my baby!" his mother cried, sitting down beside him "What happened to you?"_

_She broke down, Jeremy's father quickly wrapping her up in a hug and rubbing her arm to comfort her. Evan lifted himself onto the edge of the bed and swung his feet over the edge, trying to fight back tears._

"_Hey, hey," Jeremy said softly, between breathing. "Mom, Evan, Dad, I'm fine... I'll be okay..." _

"_B-But... why did this happen to my baby?" his mother cried. _

"_They wanted my stuff... they knew my name too... did the police get them?" _

"_No, not yet I'm afraid, but don't you worry about that now Jeremy, my son." His father spoke in an unusually concerned and gentle way. _

"_W-What about Gareth?" Jeremy asked his voice dropping to barely a whisper. "Is he safe?"_

"_Yes, son, he's safe. His condition is a little worse than yours, but the doctors said he'll be fine."_

_Jeremy was relived but at the same time worried, his father had said Gareth's condition was worse than his, and he felt... horrible. Every inch of him flared up in pain when he breathed or moved and he ached like hell. He had various broken bones, including his nose and a number of his ribs, but nothing too serious. _

_A couple of nights later, Jeremy was allowed to go home. He was still healing and had to stay off work, but when he was finally able to make the decision he had been struggling with for years after seeing the condition of his best friend. Of Gareth. Although he turned out fine, Jeremy's valuables were never recovered and the man was never caught. Jeremy never got the answer to his question._

_Who was that man, and how did he know Jeremy's name?_

_He would never know. But he could make sure that others would know the answer, he could protect people and save them. To prevent things like this. _

_He never wanted to feel this way ever again. So weak and defenceless, unable to protect the people he cared about. Never again. He would train and learn. _

_He would become a cop. _

* * *

"That's pretty much it I guess. I enrolled in the department for training when I had fully healed, never looked back."

"Awesome." Kai commented, looking up at Jeremy with a hint of admiration in his eyes.

"You know..." Mal started, pushing himself to his feet and walked over to Jeremy, placing a hand on his shoulder "For a Rookie... you got all your morals in the right place. That might be the greatest reason I've heard in a long time for someone to become a cop."

"Thanks Mal... means a lot."

Mal nodded and patted Jeremy's back before turning and sitting back down in his chair.

"Well Mal, looks like you're last up."

"Guess so..."


	6. Mal

_Memories_

_Chapter Six (Mal)_

_**Huge thank you to everyone who read/reviewed/followed etc. It honestly means the world to me and I have a mini happy dance every time I get a review... :3 Anyway, this will be the last memory I think, since I want to start the sequel to Capital Holiday soon that you guys have asked for. I don't really like working on more than one story at a time nowadays since I'm caught up between drawing and writing, both which are incredibly time consuming!  
**_

_**Also thank you to everyone that's followed me on Tumblr and liked my Natara Anime/Manga picture... means a lot since you know me... ever the shy one who never thinks anything she does it good at all... *Crawls into my safety hole and blushes* :3 Anyway, feel free to follow me on Tumblr at mozzi-girl . tumblr . com (remove spaces) and enjoy the last memory (There might be a mini epilogue at the end, just to clear the storm up and whatever.)**_

* * *

_**Review Replies:**_

_**gummybear1622**__** – Thanks for the review, yep, poor Jeremy!**_

_**malararox21**__** – It's all good, at least you're back now, yay! Thank you very much Katie, aww you think I'm cool? :3 Haha awww, I cannot stop smiling from reading your review, you make me feel so good about myself Katie, thank you! Haha yes, Kai is a boss, I love him! Hehe Natara's was fun to write I'll admit... umm... Maltara... hmm... am I not the QOMF?! ;D I'll try to include fluff somewhere. LYLAS too!**_

_**Abc**__** – Thanks for reviewing, I will try to include Maltara in here somewhere for you. Haha loving the nicknames for them, so true.**_

_**HopelessRomantic1994**__** – Hehe well I'm glad to hear that you were looking forward to it and enjoyed it! Haha oi, get some sleep missis lol! OMG he is a babe, he's my rugged babe! Anyway Thanks so much for reviewing!**_

_**Maltara101**__** – Yay, you have an account! :) Awww I am? Thank you so much Tori, I'm really happy to hear that, you're awesome! **_

_**Nat157s**__** – Natalie! I always smile loads whenever I get a review from you, you just make me feel so awesome :') Yeah a lot of people were wondering how I'd do Jeremy's memory, surprised myself tbh. Mal is a babe, he's my rugged babe and I love him, also love writing memories for him too, since his past is so awesome to think about! Thank you very much Natalie!**_

_**maltarajaise**__** - Thank you Sarah, means a lot! :)**_

_**BreezyFan**__** – Awww sorry I broke your heart... my bad! Awww I'm glad to hear that, hehe thank you! Love being called the QOMF! :D **_

_**BonnieSalvatore**__** – Your welcome, and glad that you enjoyed it! Thanks for reviewing!**_

_**CapitalX**__** – Patrick! Wassup! :D Thank you ever so much, glad to hear that! :3**_

_**But I Have Promises To Keep**__** – No problem, it's fine :) Wow, thank you very much! Means so much to hear you say that!**_

* * *

"Come on Mal, it's your turn!" Jeremy said gleefully.

"Fine," Mal huffed "What do you wanna hear?"

"I dunno, anything really... maybe something that was always memorable to you?"

Mal looked at Jeremy with one eyebrow raised, and saw him smile warmly towards him. Mal watched him for a brief moment, before scanning the room around him, seeing everyone else smiling at him as well. When his eyes fell on Natara, she nodded encouragingly and Mal sighed. He looked to the floor, racking his brain for something that was memorable to him. No matter what he thought of it always included one person: Jacob Fallon. Even though he felt constant betrayal and pain, the times he remembered before his incarceration seemed to be joyful. One memory in particular pushed itself into the front and Mal smiled slightly.

"What?" Natara asked, leaning forward slightly so she could see his face. "What is it?"

"Um..." Mal mumbled before taking a deep breath. He could recall the memory as if it was only yesterday, when in reality it was many-a-year ago.

* * *

_Mal was outside his school gates waiting to be picked up by his Dad, Jacob Fallon. Normally Mal would have walked home, considering it wasn't extremely far away and it kept him active, but today was different. Today his Dad had managed to get the afternoon off his busy job to spend some time with his son, which was considerably rare. Plus today, Jacob was taking Mal to see the final game of baseball in the season. Jacob had managed to get tickets, in the special VIP lounge above the stadium as well! Apparently Jacob knew the man that organised the VIP lounges and managed to pull a few strings and get the Fallon's places instead of another pair. _

_He'd admit it, Mal was super excited, especially since he was going with his Dad, someone who he'd looked up to since he was a toddler. He had always watched the baseball games on TV and even played in the team at school, but he'd never gone to an actual game before. It was a first for him, but Jacob was there, so he wasn't nervous. _

_Jacob's squad car pulled up on the curb in front of Mal, while the other school kids were heading on out home. When Mal saw his Dad he said a quick goodbye to his friends and rushed on over, jumping into the front seat. Despite the fact that it was against the law for him to be the in front seat at his age, Jacob sometimes allowed it, especially on occasions like this. _

"_Hey Son," Jacob greeted with a grin "Good day?"_

"_Meh," Mal shrugged "School's school." _

_Jacob chuckled and reached over, ruffling his son's blonde hair gently. _

* * *

"Wait what?" Jeremy said, his eyes widening slightly "You were... blonde?"

"Uh... yeah, up until my teen years."

"Really?" Mal nodded. "Oh... Okay then. It's quite hard to picture you with blonde hair actually."

Mal chuckled and nodded, while Natara giggled. She had already seen a picture of Mal with blonde hair when he was younger at Christmas. And Blaise already knew this fact from when Mal was in college; his hair was changing from Blonde to Brunette back then. Kai just sat there staring at Mal, when he caught sight of this his face screwed up in a mixture of annoyance and confusion.

"What on earth are you doing Kalaba?" He muttered.

"Just... you... blonde? You'd look so much like Hal Talon then!"

"Um... can I please just get back to my story now?"

Everyone nodded, and Kai giggled to himself in the corner. Mal just rolled his eyes and continued.

* * *

_Before the Fallon's went to the game, which wasn't until later anyway, they went home so that Mal could get changed out of his uniform and into something more comfortable. Same thing for Jacob. When they walked through the door, a pretty young woman, with long wavy brunette hair and deep blue eyes walked into the hallways and kissed both Jacob and Mal on the cheek. It was his mother, Angela Fallon. Cynthia, his sister, was sat in the living room on the phone to one of her many friends, talking about something Mal seriously wasn't interested in, in the slightest. She looked towards them both and weakly waved before resuming her conversation made up of squeals and high pitched giggling. _

_One look from his dad that said 'go get changed', and Mal was off. He quickly threw down his school bag and hung his jacket on the hook before trudging up the stairs. As he was walking, he glanced back to see his Mum and Dad conversing, while Angela gently removed Jacob's jacket and hung it up for him. She smiled and gave him a quick kiss before heading into the kitchen out of sight. Mal watched as Jacob smiled subtly, watching her as she went. _

_Most kids would be grossed out at this age by the sight of their parents being all lovey-dovey. But not Mal. To him, it reminded him of how much they loved each other, and that they wouldn't be broken apart, no matter what. _

_Jacob looked up to Mal, who was now standing at the top of the stairs and winked, before turning around and walking into the living room too. Mal grinned and rushed to his bedroom to get changed, before returning downstairs and into the kitchen, where his mum has begun preparing dinner._

"_Hey Mom." He greeted, taking a seat at the dining table and swinging his legs in the air. _

"_Hello sweetie," Angela smiled "How was school?"_

"_Same old, same old. I'm bored of it..."_

"_Only a couple more years Malachi, remember that. When you leave you'll be begging to go back I guarantee it."_

"_Sure I will..." Mal mumbled unenthusiastically. _

"_You will Mal, believe me."_

"_I'll believe it when I see it Mom." _

_Angela laughed lightly and walked over to Mal, kissing the top of his head. She took a seat beside him and smiled sweetly. She gently stroked his cheek and sighed._

"_Anyway," she said, quick to change the subject "Are you excited to spend some time with Jac- I mean, Daddy?"_

"_Yeah! Of course!" Mal beamed "I can't believe we're gonna watch baseball together, in the VIP lounge as well!"_

"_Yes, your father was very lucky to get those tickets for you."_

_Mal nodded and glanced towards the living room, where he knew his Dad resided. _

"_I like spending time with him..." He mumbled, twisting his hands together shyly._

"_I know sweetheart," Angela smiled "And he liked spending time with you too," She dropped her voice to a gentle whisper "Although he'd never admit it, he's super excited to take you to this game today."_

"_He is?"_

_Angela nodded and smiled, before standing up and returning to whatever it was that she was doing before. Mal sat in momentary thought before jumping down from the wooden chair and running into the living room, where Cynthia and Jacob were sat side-by-side on the couch. When Mal entered, Jacob flashed him a charming smile and stood up, walking over to him and crouching to his height._

"_You ready to go kiddo?"_

"_Yep!"_

"_Great," Jacob chuckled "I'll just grab my gun."_

"_Oh no you don't Jacob," Angela huffed, suddenly appearing in the doorway "That gun is staying right here, you don't need it."_

"_Angie, baby, I-"_

"_No." She said sternly, the voice she used when she would tell Mal off. "You're taking our son to a baseball game Jacob, why on earth would you need a gun?!"_

"_Just... in case...?" He tried, smiling innocently._

_Mal watched this, while Cynthia was absorbed in her phone on a game. He giggled while his mum told his dad off, it was entertaining at least. Eventually Jacob had to give in and Angela took his gun and put it in the family safe. She smiled triumphantly and bent down, kissing the top of Mal's head and the Jacob's cheek._

"_Have a good evening you too," Then she turned to address Mal "And Mal, no trouble okay? Be good for me."_

"_Okay Mom..." _

_Mal looked to Jacob, who winked at him._

"_He'll be an angel honey, cya later."_

"_Bye!"_

* * *

"Your mother sounds lovely Mal..." Natara said, smiling sweetly. "I would have loved to have gotten the chance to meet her."

"Yeah," Mal sighed "She was. An angel itself if you ask me."

Blaise nodded.

"I remember when I used to come over after college... she made me cookies."

"Heh... they _were_ good."

"Hell yes, I _loved_ your Mom's cookies!"

Blaise and Mal laughed, while Natara giggled. Jeremy and Kai glanced at each other, smiling. The room settled into a simple silence for a moment, while everyone was lost in thought.

"I miss her." Mal stated after a long moment.

"Me too... she was like a second mother to me..." Blaise sighed.

Sensing the mood was downing, Natara quickly tried to get back onto the subject at hand, but reached over and placed her hand on top of Mal's comfortingly. He looked to her and smiled, gently rubbing the top of her hand with his thumb.

"So Mal... you were saying?"

"Oh... right, sorry."

* * *

_As they left the house, Mal turned to Jacob._

"_I don't really have to be that good right Daddy?"_

"_Are you kidding me, being good is no fun!"_

"_Yes!" _

_Jacob laughed and they made their way to Jacob's squad car, hopping in once more. Unfortunately they had hit the rush hour traffic by the time they got back onto the main roads and were at a standstill. Jacob was being incredibly patient, but his patience was running thinner and thinner by the second. As was Mal's. _

"_Dad," Mal whined "We're gonna be late..."_

"_Oh no we aint," Jacob grinned "Fasten your seatbelt Son, these pedestrians are about to get outta my way."_

_Mal grinned and did as was asked. Jacob chuckled before flipping on his sirens and waited for the cars to manoeuvre out of his way, so he had a clear path._

"_Next stop, the stadium." _

"_Awesome!" Mal beamed. _

_Jacob revved his engine and sped through the traffic, weaving effortlessly in and out of the vehicles. Mal sneakily wound down his window and let the icy cold air whip at his hair, in moments Jacob imitated his actions and laughed. Sometimes, Mal enjoyed the drives with his dad, they normally resulted in high car speed chases or at least faking them. Mal loved them. They were, in a sense, thrilling, dangerous and exciting. _

_From whizzing through the streets and taking a shortcut, the Fallon's arrived outside the stadium faster than expected, and Jacob parked in a reserved space. Mal jumped out the vehicle just as the car came to a halt, shortly following by his dad. _

_Mal looked around at the thousand other people heading in the same direction and started to bolt forward, when Jacob quickly stopped him._

"_Hey," He said firmly "Don't run off Mal."_

"_Sorry..." _

_In seconds his dad's demeanour reverted back to normal and he smiled, taking hold of Mal's hand. Mal groaned but didn't protest. His dad was too overprotective sometimes... but it was all out of the love he felt towards him, so it wasn't all bad. _

_Jacob led Mal inside the arena, keeping tight hold of his hand so he wouldn't lose him. They weaved through the endless crowd and met up with a short stubby-like man with balding grey hair and a grey suit on. _

"_Benny!" Jacob greeted with a firm handshake._

"_Jakey-boy, glad you could make it!" _

_Mal watched in silence, feeling slightly awkward and out-of-place, but when Jacob gave Mal's hand a light comforting squeeze, he relaxed a little. Then Jacob bent down and lifted Mal into his arms, despite his squirming and protests. _

"_Benny, this is Mal, my son." _

"_No. Way." Benny beamed and looked Mal over for a second "He looks like you Jacob."_

"_Heh... yeah, guess so." _

_Jacob ruffled Mal's hair, making him laugh, Benny extended his hand and Mal hesitantly let him shake it._

"_Nice to meet you Mal." He said gently._

"_Y-You too..." Mal whispered, clinging onto his dad tightly._

"_Well aint he adorable!" Benny chuckled "Now, come on, our VIP lounge is waiting."_

_Jacob nodded and followed Benny through the crowd up a flight of stairs and into their VIP lounge that was just behind a metal door. _

* * *

"Awww... well aren't you the sweetest thing!" Natara giggled, nudging Mal's arm playfully.

"Yeah, yeah, we all know I'm adorable." Mal retorted, grinning back at her.

Jeremy was leaning against the back wall with Blaise beside him and Kai was still sat in the corner, with a dimly lit candle being his only source of light. None of them said anything, but exchanged glances between one another, grinning wildly. Mal and Natara didn't take notice of the subtle gesture and continued to gaze at one another for a little while longer. Eventually, Blaise lightly coughed, causing both Mal and Natara to take note of their actions and look away with a newly formed blush of their cheeks.

Mal awkwardly cleared his throat and straightened up slightly.

"A-Anyway,"

* * *

_Benny flung open the door and strolled inside, greeting the numerous other people that had also gotten tickets into this place. It wasn't overly crowded like the stadium below them though, so it was a little more relaxing. When Mal finally managed to wriggle his way out of his father's grip and enter the room, he was met by a magnificent scene. _

_There was a light grey carpet laid on most of the floor, except for a small square area near the bar. The bar itself ran a medium length and was made of a light wooden material, with brown stools surrounding one side. There were enormous glass windows and a patio door that led out to the red seats, in which to watch the game outside, and also black leather chairs surrounding a coffee table. Most of the places were taken up, and the room mainly consisted of men, with the exception of around five women and at least one other kid. _

"_Amazing, isn't it son?" Jacob commented, placing his hands on his hips and looking around._

_Mal could only nod in agreement as he stared at the room. Jacob ruffled Mal's hair once more before gesturing him to enjoy himself and go nuts. Mal smirked and took off, exploring everything and talking to the other kids while his dad went to the bar to get a drink. Just as the game was due to start, Benny asked everyone to take a seat outside, to which everyone complied and began taking their things and went to find a seat. Mal started walking outside with a kid he met called Brian, who was fairly dark skinned and had black hair, and wore a shirt that had an image of Batman on it, with jeans. As they were walking out, Mal felt a hand being placed on his shoulder and he looked up, to see his dad smiling down at him._

"_Made a friend kiddo?" He teased._

"_Yes," Mal retorted confidently "Don't sound so surprised."_

_Jacob laughed and they walked out, taking a seat beside Brian and his family. Mal was sat in between Brain and Jacob on the front row, listening to the crowds roar when the teams came on the field._

_Throughout the game, waiters brought them beverages and provisions to keep them going, all of which tasted amazing. Brain and Mal even started a wave throughout the crowd, leaving them laughing. To make things better, their team won 3-1, and every single person in the stadium cheered, Mal included. _

_After the game was over, they hung around inside the VIP lounge for another half an hour, before Jacob got a call from the SFPD, saying he was needed urgently. Mal didn't want to say goodbye to Brain, but they promised to see each other again. It was a silly promise, both of them knowing the odds of them crossing paths again was one in thousands. _

_Brain waved cheerfully as Mal followed behind his father, glancing back and waving too._

"_Bye bye Mal!" He called._

"_Bye Brain!" _

_The door closed and they made their way back to Jacob's squad car, both with enormous smiles on their faces. Throughout the drive home, they discussed the game, all the amazing moments that made it. After a short drive, Jacob pulled up outside their home and turned to Mal. _

"_Dad?" Mal said as he unbuckled his seatbelt._

"_Yes Mal?" _

"_Do you really have to go back to work now...?"_

"_Unfortunately, yes son, but I shouldn't be too long." He smiled reassuringly._

"_... Mom worries about you, you know." He whispered, almost mutely. _

"_I know..." Jacob sighed "But hey, I'll be fine! No one messes with the Fallon's, okay?" _

_Mal simply nodded and went to get out the car and head back inside, but before he did, Jacob stopped him and leaned over, kissing the top of his head gently._

"_I won't be too long, I promise." He said softly. _

"_Okay, can I stay up until you get back?" He pleaded. "Please?"_

"_No Mal, you can't. You have to go to bed when your Mommy tells you. I'll see you... soon."_

_Mal sighed and nodded before jumping out the car and walking slowly towards the door. He watched Jacob drive down the road until he was out of sight before turning towards the door and reaching up to the handle, opening the door and heading inside. _

_He stayed up until around 9pm, when his mum forced him to go to bed. Mal lay in bed, but couldn't sleep. Even when his eyes burned from the tiredness, he stayed awake up until the early hours of the morning, just waiting for his dad to come home. Normally he was back before now... which made him worry. That was, until he heard the door open and someone stroll inside. _

_Mal grinned and heard his dad come up the stairs before jumping out of bed and opening his door, running down the hall excitedly. He almost ran into Jacob, but just managed to stop in time._

"_Dad!" _

"_Shhh Mal!" He scolded "What are you doing up?"_

"_I... wanted to see you..." _

_Jacob's anger melted away instantly and he sighed, bending down and picking Mal up, holding him in his arms. _

"_Alright, come on you, time to sleep."_

"_Sorry Daddy..."_

"_Its fine Son," Jacob said gently, kissing Mal's temple "I wanted to see you too anyway."_

_He carried Mal back down the hallway to his room, and Mal took in just how tired and worn out his dad looked. He had a minor cut on his bottom lip and his hair was all scruffy, his suit was even slightly torn in places. He had bags under his eyes and just looked generally exhausted, but despite that, seeing his dad again was a highlight. Jacob opened Mal's door and gently placed him in his bed, pulling the duvet over him._

"_Goodnight Mal." Jacob whispered, kissing Mal's forehead._

"_Night Dad." _

_Without another word, Jacob exited the room and closed the door, leaving it slightly ajar, just how Mal liked it. Knowing his dad was home and safe allowed him to find sleep immediately and he didn't wake up until noon. Thankfully it was a Saturday. _

* * *

As Mal finished he sighed, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes in thought. Everyone else was sat speechless, and Kai had actually fallen silent for once.

"... That's... so cute." Blaise mumbled, unable to stop smiling.

Everyone nodded in agreement and Natara leaned over, placing her head on Mal's shoulder. He opened his eyes again and smiled down at her, lifting his arm up and draping it around her shoulders, holding her closer. Kai sniffled, trying to subtly wipe his eyes.

"Kai, are you crying?" Mal asked, a cheeky grin forming on his face.

"What? No! I'm not, crying! I just... have something in my eye..."

"Of course you do."

"Hey... guys?" Jeremy whispered, looking towards the window. "The storm... it's stopping."


	7. Epilogue

_Memories_

_Epilogue – The Storm thus end_

_**Hello there, well this story has finally come to an end and just a quick announcement from me. I'm going to be taking a break while I prepare my new story, which is a sequel to Capital Holiday! **__**(While we're on the topic, I'd like to know, what 'person' would you like the sequel to be in. Like 1**__**st**__** person – I, me. 2**__**nd**__** person – you, we or 3**__**rd**__** person – Mal did this, Natara said that. Let me know!)**_

_**I want to get a few chapters ahead so that I can update once a day, since I've been struggling to update frequently recently. I'll still be reading/reviewing etc so no worries. Thank you all for your support with this story and everything. Thank you and I hope you enjoy.**_

* * *

_**Review Replies:**_

_**NaturallyFlaxen**__** – Awww thank you so much for reviewing, nice to get a new reviewer (unless you're someone who changed their penname lol) Glad you enjoyed this story, thanks again!**_

_**BreezyFan**__** – Haha Maldorable! Hee thank you very much Lisa!**_

_**HopelessRomantic1994**__** – (Got your PM Review!) Thank you!**_

_**Maltara101**__** – Hey Tori! Thank you ever so much for the awesome review, you do make me smile! Glad you liked it, enjoy!**_

_**But I Have Promises To Keep**__** – Hehe thank you! **_

_**The Sarcastic Polar Bear**__** – Awww thanks, well I love writing for Mal and Jacob! I really do! :D**_

_**BonnieSalvatore**__** – Hehe thanks!**_

_**Maltararox21**__** – Thank you so much Katie, your review seriously made me smile LOADS! :'D Haha I do indeed, I hope you enjoy the sequel... when I write it that is lol.**_

_**KatlanaChild**__** – Hehe well thank you Shelby for reading this, I appreciate it :) Haha yep, and I love the nickname! :D**_

_**Nat157s**__** – Awww thanks so much Natalie, made me smile loads as usual with your reviews. THANK YOUUUU :D**_

* * *

"It's actually stopping?" Blaise inquired, more to herself than anyone as she stood up and slowly walked over to the window. She cupped her hands around her eyes and pressed them against the glass, peering out. "It's actually stopping!"

Everyone stood up and walked over, imitating her actions and feeling a sudden wash of relief flood over them all. Mal was the first to pull back and turn on his heel, grabbing his discarded jacket and sliding it on, walking into the bullpen.

It was the early hours of the morning now, and if it wasn't for the storm hitting the sun would usually be just emerging from on the horizon that settled over the ocean in the distance. All that could currently be seen was grey-black clouds, but since the storm had stopped they were beginning to move south, dragged by the light wind.

The bullpen was full of officers and a couple detectives that seemed to also be struggling to occupy themselves. Some were sat in circles on the floor, similar to the ones Mal and the gang were sat in, doing nothing in particular. Others had crumpled pieces of paper into balls and were playing simple games like catch or tennis. Even a few had fallen asleep atop their desks, with their blue cop hats covering their faces. Candles and torches were scattered about, emitting a little light to guide Mal's way. When Mal appeared in the doorway every head turned to look at him with new found interest. He thought that they must have been even more bored than him if something as simple as someone's presence entertained them even the slightest bit.

With a quite glance around at the faces staring at him, Mal began heading towards the office Charles Anders was staying in. Natara emerged from their office with Blaise, Jeremy and Kai keeping pace behind her quick steps.

Mal didn't even knock on the door before pushing it open and taking a single step inside, coming face to face with the forever annoyed expression of Lt. Anders.

"Detective Fallon, you're supposed to-"

"Can it chuckles," Mal spat, not in the mood at 3am to take his crap "Just wanted to let you know that the storms stopping, ergo I'm going home."

Not even waiting for a response, Mal turned back around and walked back into the bullpen. He didn't get very far though, since Anders came rushing after him, a clearly pissed expression written across his features.

"Hold it Fallon," He growled "The storms not _fully_ stopped yet therefore you and everyone else in this damn precinct are staying put."

"Wait, the storms stopping?" an officer piped up from a circle in near the middle of the room.

"We can go?!" another yelled.

The room all shared glances and murmurs before one by one, the cops stood up and soon enough the room erupted into mini chaos, with cops rushing around, each trying to get to their office and get their things. Anders, try as he may, couldn't control the disarray so Mal decided to step in. He hopped onto a nearby desk and placed his hands on his hips, scanning the situation with a frown on his face. He subtly cleared his throat before taking a deep breath and addressing the entire precinct.

"Hey!" he shouted, gaining everyone's attention almost immediately. People wore blank and confused faces, stopping mid-action quite literally. "That's better. You guys are officers, start acting like it! Alright, I get that you all wanna go home, hell, I do too, but we're just going to take longer if everyone makes a mad dash for their stuff. Just take your time dammit and we'll all get out of here quicker." Mal sighed and jumped down from the desk "One more thing, everyone seriously better get out of my way, I'm not in the mood. That's all."

People murmured with one another before finally doing as ordered and slowly making their way to gather their things, making sure to blow out candles to diminish the risk of a fire. As Blaise, Jeremy and Kai went their separate ways, Natara squeezed through the crowd and over to Mal. She flashed him a smile, which he happily returned.

"Not a morning person?" She teased.

Mal chuckled and nodded.

"Not at all." He turned to look at the crowded bullpen and his smile faltered slightly "And I want to go home, excuse me."

Mal started walking towards the crowd, and the people even cleared a path so he could walk through, not wanting to be on the wrong side of him. Natara rolled her eyes playfully and quickly followed behind. She wore a huge grin on her face, but Mal didn't notice since she was behind him. She thought about teasing him more, maybe slipping a compliment in there, but decided against it. After all she just wanted to get home too. They eventually entered their office and, as if on cue, the lights flickered back to life, illuminating the once dim area. Natara grabbed her laptop bag and black suit jacket and flung them over her shoulder.

"Ready?" Mal said, smiling gently at her.

"Yep, you?"

Mal nodded.

"You wanna lift?" he offered.

"Please."

Mal opened the door and held it for Natara as she passed through, saying a quick thank you. They stood near the main double doors of the precinct until Anders emerged once more, finishing up a phone call.

"Alright, you all can-"

He didn't even have time to finish before people started making their way out the doors. The streets were practically empty, with only a few bystanders strolling along and the odd car driving by. Officers said their farewells and went their separate ways, getting into the cars and disappearing into the distances. Unlike the others, Mal and Natara had slowed their pace and slid silently into the seats. Mal buckled his seatbelt and flipped on the engine, before weaving slowly through the near-empty streets of San Francisco.

A peaceful silence befell them both for the first couple minutes, until Natara turned to Mal and broke it.

"So... today was... interesting." She said softly.

"Yeah, it was wasn't it? And long to."

"Ugh, yeah, the worst part of all this is that we have to go _back _there in a couple hours. I don't know how I'm gonna stay awake."

"Me either... might just not go in." He joked.

"Mal!" Natara giggled "You know we have to."

"Unfortunately." He sighed "I could totally just have a sleep-day."

"A sleep day?"

"Yep, sleep day. No getting out of bed for anything but food, drink and the bathroom. Sleep day."

"Ahh that sounds utterly perfect right about now."

Mal nodded in agreement. Natara reached over and turned on the radio that was playing a gentle melody and soothing music. Both of them began to feel the exhaustion taking over, so Natara quickly turned it off, shaking her head to try and stay awake. She yawned and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. As they drove, Natara felt the chair become more and more comfy and she sunk into it. She looked around and allowed her heavy eyelids to gently drift shut, just for a moment. But that was all it took for the exhaustion to take over and she fell into a light sleep.

Mal glanced over to her and grinned, bringing his eyes back to the road quickly. He knew he had to be on full alert since his reactions would probably be slower due to lack of sleep, so he couldn't spend even another moment looking at Natara sleeping beside him. No matter how much he wanted to. She looked utterly adorable, even more so than usual.

Driving for roughly another ten minutes, Mal pulled his sleek black sedan up to the curb outside Natara's apartment and turned off the engine. He took a deep breath and relaxed a little in his chair, tilting his head slightly so he could see Natara.

She was curled up in the chair beside him, with her head resting against the glass window. Her mouth was open the tiniest bit and she was breathing steadily. Mal considered waking her up, but remembered the time when she told him she sometimes had trouble sleeping if woke up, so decided against it. Instead he saw a small glint of silver in her pocket and took the object out, seeing it was a set of house keys; _her_ house keys. He held them in his hand as he walked around to the passenger side of the car and opened the door as quietly as he could, not wanting to wake her. Bending down, he unbuckled her belt and scooped her up into his arms, carrying her in the bridal position up the steps toward the door. Natara subconsciously smiled and snuggled into Mal's chest, wrapping her arms around his neck for support.

Supporting Natara with one arm, he reached over and unlocked the door, gently kicking it open enough so he could fit through with her.

Mal slowly walked into Natara's dark apartment and made his flipped on a nearby table lamp to provide him enough light to navigate through the rooms. He brought Natara into her bedroom, decorated in a mainly black and white, with an odd splash of lilac dotted about. It was so her. Mal quickly walked over to her double bed, covered in a pattern of white and lilac lilies; her favourites. He threw one side of the duvet off and set Natara down. She groaned lightly, threatening to wake up, but Mal soothed her by gently stroking her hair. He removed her shoes and jacket and pulled the cover over her, watching as she shuffled into a comfortable position and the most miniscule of smiles appeared on her lips, causing Mal to smile too.

He looked down at her left hand, which was out of the cover and beside her head, and his smile faltered ever-so-slightly. Atop her finger was the beautiful diamond ring Oscar had brought her when he proposed and Mal was ever reminded that she wasn't his, and thanks to Oscar, probably never would be now...

Mal sighed and tried to push the thoughts away. He was happy for her... right? Of course he was, he had to be. Without another thought he leaned down and gently planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Goodnight Natara." He whispered soothingly.

And walked back out, heading back towards the front door. He almost missed Natara stirring at the loss of warmth and contact. She slowly opened her eyes and was in momentary confusion, jolting up into a seating position.

"Mal?" She called out, hearing only silence in response.

Mal stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder, through the darkness. He heard his name being called softly again and quickly headed back, peeking his head around the corner of the bedroom to find Natara looking back at him with confusion written across her beautiful features.

"Mal, how did... did you bring me...?" her voice trailed off.

He walked over and sat on the side of her bed.

"Yeah, I brought you back. Go back to sleep Natara, I gotta get going anyway."

"Oh... alright. Thanks, you know, for doing that."

"No problem," Mal smiled "Night Natara."

"Goodnight Mal..." she smiled back.

Mal nodded and stood up once more, walking out the room and out the door, only stealing a quick glance back. He locked the door and posted the keys through the letterbox. Making a slow walk back to his car, Mal took a deep breath of the cool morning air, looking up to the sky. The morning birds were chirping their own merry tunes and the damp smell that lingers after a rainfall was apparent in the air. A couple beams of sunlight broke through the dark clouds in the sky and reflected off the tall buildings in the distance. For some reason, Mal felt utterly relaxed and peaceful. He jumped in his car and began driving home, remembering he had work tomorrow, or rather later today. And that meant he would also be seeing Natara later, which made him grin as he weaved back through the streets to his apartment, utterly content.


End file.
